WPP plc

WPP plc, (Wire and Plastic Products) is a British multinational advertising and public relations company with its main management office in London, England, and its executive office in Dublin, Ireland. It is the world's largest advertising company by revenues, and employs around 179,000 people in 3,000 offices across 111 countries. It owns a number of advertising, public relations and market research networks, including Millward Brown, Grey, Burson-Marsteller, Hill & Knowlton, JWT, Ogilvy & Mather, TNS, Young & Rubicam and Cohn & Wolfe.

WPP has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It has a secondary listing on NASDAQ.

History

Wire and Plastic Products plc was founded in 1971 as a manufacturer of wire shopping baskets. In 1985 Martin Sorrell, searching for a listed company through which to build a worldwide marketing services company, bought a controlling stake of just under 30% at a cost of $676,000. Sorrell had been the financial director for the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi from 1977 to 1985, managing its takeovers of companies in the US and the UK. The holding company was renamed WPP Group and in 1987 Sorrell became its chief executive.