Sir Martin Sorrell built WPP from a small wire and plastic basket manufacturer into a $16 billion global advertising empire, one of the defining business stories of a generation. After leaving in 2018, he did it all again – launching S4 Capital, now eight years old and betting everything on AI-driven transformation of marketing.
A Harvard Business School graduate and the son of an immigrant family, Martin has weathered a cancer diagnosis, built and lost fortunes on the swings of the market, and still calls his life’s work “unfinished business.”
In this episode, Martin talks about starting over in his 70s, the funding mistake behind the Ogilvy deal that still stings, why AI will reshape marketing around outcomes rather than time, the near-impossible balance between family, career and society, and what he’s learned about legacy from his father and grandfather.
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