Overview
WPP plc is a global advertising, marketing and communications company. It helps clients build and grow brands through media planning and buying, creative and content services, production, data and technology, and strategic solutions. Its current operating structure includes WPP Media, WPP Creative, WPP Production and WPP Enterprise Solutions, supported by its WPP Open platform.[1][2]
WPP operates in more than 100 countries. For the year ended 31 December 2025, it reported revenue of £13.55 billion and approximately 98,655 employees. Its stated mission is to be “the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands.” [3][4][5] [3][4][1][2][5]
Products & services
WPP Open is WPP’s agentic marketing platform, combining proprietary technology with partner tools and a flexible data model designed to connect different data sources. It provides a secure workspace for strategy, creative, media and production, with AI agents and a shared intelligence layer to support marketing work.[6][7]
WPP Open Pro is a productized, SaaS offering for mid-market and smaller-business clients, with self-service capabilities. Its features include campaign planning, competitive and strategic insights, on-brand asset generation, and workflows for reviewing and publishing campaigns.[8][9] WPP’s services include media, creative, enterprise solutions and production, alongside data and commerce capabilities; its media agencies include Mindshare, Wavemaker and EssenceMediacom. InfoSum is a named data-collaboration platform.[10][1][11]
WPP does not report revenue by individual product or platform. For FY2025, Global Integrated Agencies accounted for 88% of company revenue, while Public Relations and Specialist Agencies accounted for the other 12%; these are agency-group figures, not product-specific revenue shares.[3] [6][7][8][9][10][1][11][3][7][9][1][11]
Geographic presence
For the year ended 31 December 2025, WPP reported revenue of £13,550 million across four geographic categories: North America £4,966 million (36.6%); the United Kingdom £2,055 million (15.2%); Western Continental Europe £2,891 million (21.3%); and Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa & Middle East, and Central & Eastern Europe combined £3,638 million (26.8%). Percentages are calculated from the reported revenue figures. The filing does not provide a further country-level breakdown for these categories.[12]
WPP reported operations in more than 100 countries and approximately 98,655 employees at year-end 2025; the reviewed filing provides total headcount rather than a regional employee breakdown. Its principal-property list includes locations in the United States (New York and Chicago), Germany (Düsseldorf), China (Shanghai), Spain (Madrid), India (Mumbai and Gurugram), Brazil (São Paulo), France (Paris) and Italy (Milan).[12][13] [12][13]
Business segments
From the first half of 2026, WPP reports one operating segment, Global Integrated Agencies, with supplementary analysis of Media, Creative, Enterprise Solutions and Production. In 2025, those activities represented approximately 41%, 40%, 13% and 6%, respectively, of revenue less pass-through costs; combining Creative and Enterprise Solutions gives about 53% for Creative including Enterprise Solutions. These are 2025 historical proportions under the revised presentation, not separate reported segments or current-period shares.[14][15] WPP describes its activities broadly as including media intelligence, data solutions, creative services, production capabilities, enterprise solutions and strategic counsel; the reporting materials do not provide more detailed definitions of each component.[16]
In its 2025 reporting, WPP had three reportable segments: Global Integrated Agencies, Public Relations and Specialist Agencies. By reported revenue, their approximate shares were 88.2%, 5.2% and 6.6%, respectively.[17][18][19] The segment labels identify the broad business categories, but the 2025 report does not give detailed service-by-service definitions for Public Relations or Specialist Agencies. From 2026, the single-segment structure replaces this three-segment presentation.[20][14] [16][17][18][19][19][19][19][20][14][15]
Company history
WPP began in 1971 as Wire and Plastic Products, a manufacturer of shopping baskets and other plastic goods. Martin Sorrell acquired a controlling interest in 1985 and became chief executive in 1986, beginning its transformation into an advertising and marketing-services group. Major early acquisitions included J. Walter Thompson in 1987 and Ogilvy in 1989.[21][22] In 2000, WPP merged with Young & Rubicam; it acquired Grey Global Group in 2005 and announced an agreement to acquire digital agency AKQA in 2012.[23][24][25]
Sorrell stepped down as chief executive in 2018, and Mark Read took over that September. That year WPP also combined JWT and Wunderman as Wunderman Thompson, and VML and Y&R as VMLY&R.[26][27][28][29] In 2019, WPP completed the sale of a 60% stake in Kantar to Bain Capital.[30] In 2023, it brought Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R together as VML, and in 2024 announced the combination of BCW and Hill & Knowlton as Burson.[31][32] In 2025, GroupM was renamed WPP Media, and Cindy Rose succeeded Read as chief executive on September 1.[11][33] [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][11][33]
Sources
- www.wpp.com[1]
- www.wpp.com[2]
- WPP plc — Full financial report (2025 Y)
- cdn.wpp.com[5]
- WPP plc — Transcript (2025 Y)[6][8]
- www.wpp.com[7]
- www.wpp.com[9]
- www.wpp.com[11]
- cdn.wpp.com[14]
- cdn.wpp.com[15]
- archives.lib.duke.edu[21]
- sites.wpp.com[22]
- www.wpp.com[23]
- www.wpp.com[24]
- www.wpp.com[25]
- www.wpp.com[26]
- www.wpp.com[27]
- www.wpp.com[28]
- www.wpp.com[29]
- www.wpp.com[30]
- www.wpp.com[31]
- www.wpp.com[32]
- www.wpp.com[33]
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