Meet Cindy Rose, the former lawyer and top Microsoft exec set to become CEO of ad giant WPP

As advertising giants try to shed their analog roots, WPP has raided one of the world’s biggest tech giants to find its next leader.

The UK-based ad giant on Thursday announced that Microsoft executive Cindy Rose, 59, will succeed Mark Read as chief executive on September 1.

Insiders and shareholders told Business Insider they were hopeful Rose would steady the ship after a rocky period.

The appointment was announced the day after WPP had issued a surprise profit warning on Wednesday, saying cautious clients were spending less and less keen on pitches.

Three company insiders expressed relief to BI that the CEO search was over just a month after Read announced in June he would exit the company after 30 years. WPP said it considered both internal and external candidates. Rose was a surprise appointment to most observers BI spoke to and wasn’t on their lists of probable candidates.

One WPP insider said they were “very optimistic” about the hire, adding Rose was both a fresh face and knowledgeable about WPP, having sat on its board since 2019.

American-born Rose is a former lawyer who switched to corporate roles, worked a long stint at Disney before joining Microsoft, where she is chief operating officer for global enterprise. She is a dual UK-US citizen and will split her time between both countries, which the insider said was another plus for a company listed on both US and UK stock markets.

Her tech background would put her in good standing to lead WPP to capitalize on the newer and more profitable parts of its offering to clients, the insider added.

“She doesn’t come from a ‘media’ or ‘creative’ background, so won’t see the company through that lens either,” the WPP insider said.

WPP chair Philip Jansen praised Rose’s experience building “enduring client relationships,” having led multi-billion-dollar operations. At Microsoft, she’s helped large enterprises harness AI.

Jansen said in a statement her expertise would be “hugely valuable to WPP as the industry navigates fundamental changes and macroeconomic uncertainty.”

A US to UK import

Rose studied at Columbia University and New York Law School before relocating to the UK.

She worked at the Allen & Overy law firm in London and later joined Disney as legal counsel for Europe.

Ian Twinn, former director of public affairs for UK advertising trade body ISBA, told BI that Rose’s legal background would help her navigate the PR highs and lows of running a large public company.

“In terms of being a public affairs guy, you do rely on people with a good legal background — it makes a big difference,” said Twinn, who briefly interacted with Rose while she was at Disney. “She was very receptive and very focused.”

Just after the turn of the millennium, Rose became Disney’s UK managing director, leading thousands of employees across film, TV, and retail, and launching huge movies like “Finding Nemo” in the market.

Andy Bird, former chairman of Walt Disney International, told BI that Rose’s experience as a custodian of several different brands in her time at Disney positions her well for understanding the needs of WPP’s marketer clients.

“How you stay relevant to consumers is going to be very important to WPP moving forward,” Bird said.

Rose was senior vice president of Disney’s Europe, Middle East, and Africa interactive media group when she left after nine years to take senior leadership roles at UK telecommunications companies Virgin Media and Vodafone.

In 2016, Rose became chief executive of Microsoft UK. Joshua Graff recalls meeting Rose at this time, when he was UK country manager at LinkedIn, which Microsoft acquired in December of that year.

Graff described Rose as “direct, empathetic” and “super funny,” with an ability to create energy in the teams around her.

“No doubt she will be a talent magnet for WPP,” Graff told BI.

Read previously credited Rose with putting Microsoft on the map among UK business leaders and politicians. She also championed diversity, both within Microsoft and in encouraging people from different backgrounds to take up careers in tech. She will be the first woman to be chief executive of a global advertising holding company.

Bringing a touch of Microsoft to WPP

Rose was promoted to become president of Microsoft in Western Europe during the pandemic and rose to her most recent position in 2023. In this role, she was responsible for helping huge blue-chip businesses understand and use technologies like AI to transform their businesses.

WPP, too, is attempting to retool its business as it looks to pick up more lucrative work than simply creating and placing ads. It’s investing hundreds of millions annually in AI and other technologies as it hopes to win lucrative contracts in areas like customer-relationship management and digital transformation, areas where Rose has firsthand experience.

Matt Atkinson, former chief customer officer of The Co-Op, worked closely with Rose as the grocer transformed its tech stack, from data infrastructure to the in-store customer experience. It was a big, competitive process, and Microsoft won the pitch, beating out Snowflake, among others.

“She had created an environment where we were able to creatively and technologically collaborate for mutual benefit,” Atkinson told BI.

He added she had the “technology chops, emotional intelligence, and a way of being,” which made her a good choice to run WPP.

A peacemaker

Rose will join as the ad industry faces a reckoning. Economic and geopolitical uncertainty is making marketers cautious about taking on big projects and launching new brands. Meanwhile, Big Tech players are increasingly touting AI-powered tools that lure eyeballs away from the sites that host the ads agencies make.

With WPP’s share price hovering at lows not seen since 2009, investors will look for signs Rose is ready to make big swings to attract new business. Insiders are hoping she will boost morale after a series of restructures, layoffs, and the institution of a strict return-to-office policy that has rattled many in the internal ranks.

Claire Enders, founder of media and telecommunications research company Enders Analysis, said Rose “epitomizes the reasons women have increasingly succeeded to these roles.”

“She’s a peacemaker, she’s very non-confrontational, very thoughtful, and she works very well in very large organizations,” Enders added.

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