Why WPP is better off without Martin Sorrell

Every empire-building CEO runs out of road eventually, but change will still be risky

WPP faced serious disruption to its business long before Chief Executive Martin Sorrell faced allegations of personal misconduct and then stepped down. His exit won’t clear away those problems, but it might set the company on the path to addressing them.

The disruption the world’s biggest advertising agency faces isn’t just about advertising’s digital revolution. It is also about the exceptional wave of major customer accounts coming up for renewal this year.

More than $25 billion worth of advertising billing from some of the world’s biggest accounts is up for review this year—a bigger wave than the last similar scramble in 2015.