WPP, the global media investment company, has announced the appointment of Brian Lesser as the new Global CEO of GroupM. He will succeed Christian Juhl, who is stepping down after five years in the role to take up a new position within WPP as President of Corporate Development.
Lesser, who previously served as CEO of GroupM in North America from 2015 to 2017, will rejoin the company and assume his new role in September 2024. Until then, Juhl will continue in his current role and assist with the transition.
Lesser’s association with WPP began with the acquisition of 24/7 Real Media in 2007. He subsequently created the Media Innovation Group and founded Xaxis, GroupM’s programmatic media buying platform, which is now part of GroupM Nexus. After his tenure at GroupM, Lesser joined AT&T as CEO of AT&T Advertising and Analytics (now Xandr), and more recently served as CEO and Chairman of data company InfoSum since 2020.
Christian Juhl, who became CEO of GroupM in November 2019, has made significant contributions during his tenure, particularly in integrating the company’s offerings and driving its transformation. In his new role as President of Corporate Development for WPP, he will focus on various strategic development aspects of the company.
Mark Read, CEO of WPP, expressed his gratitude to Juhl, stating, “I would like to thank Christian for his contribution to the success of Essence, GroupM, WPP, and our clients over the last nine years. He has built a strong foundation for the ongoing transformation of GroupM, the integration of its offer, and accelerated future growth. I look forward to working with him in his new WPP role.”