Colleagues and Adversaries Pay Tribute to Michael Roth as He Retires From Interpublic Group

Michael Roth, who stepped down as chairman and chief executive of Interpublic Group at the start of this year, has announced that he will retire from advertising after serving one year as executive chairman. He led the agency network, which owns the likes of McCann, FCB, Golin, R\GA, MullenLowe, Weber Shandwick and many others, for 15 years before Philippe Krakowsky succeeded him in January and he took the guardianship role on the board. Roth's background upon joining A certified public accountant with an L.L.M. degree from New York University Law School and a J.D. from Boston University Law School, Roth was not an advertising man when he was named the new chief of IPG, taking over from David Bell. He remains one of the best people I have ever had the privilege to work for and pitch with.Jacki Kelley CEO of Americas for Dentsu He joined having previously served as the chairman and CEO of financial services holding company The MONY Group, giving a strong indication of the guidance the network needed from its leadership at the time. Over his 15 years, his reorganization of the business is widely recognized to have steadied the ship at IPG while broadening its services to offer clients. In 2018, the $2.3 billion acquisition of consumer insight and data business Acxiom was much questioned at the time, but in the wake of the Publicis acquisition of Epsilon for almost double and the current thirst for first-party data, in retrospect, it may have proved to be another significant move by the New Yorker. Roth will officially stand aside on Dec. 31, although he is still a member of the Ad Council, the board of directors for Pitney Bowes and Ryman Hospitality Properties, and holds several other directorships within charities and fundraising organizations in New York. Tributes paid “My time as Chairman and CEO of IPG has been a tremendous privilege,” said Roth in his departing statement. “I am most proud of the work we have done to help shine a light on equity and inclusion, as well as being a value and purpose-driven enterprise. Operationally, we have evolved to meet the needs of an industry that is not only creative, but also increasingly about digital and data. Philippe has been key to the efforts to move the company forward on all these fronts, working with me and the board to build a contemporary organization that delivers high-value services for marketers. Our clients, people and shareholders are in very good hands going forward.” The boy done well.Sir Martin Sorrell, chair of S4 Capital Following the announcement, several colleagues and adversaries from other holding companies came forward to pay tribute to Roth. His successor at IPG, Philippe Krakowsky, described Roth’s leadership as having “always demonstrated that doing the right thing for our people and the communities in which we operate is good for our business.” Krakowsky added: “For the industry at large, he was the first to clearly articulate the importance of making diversity and inclusion business priorities. He also set an agenda for IPG that was fully client-centric, as we looked to bring collaborative, cross-agency teams together under our Open Architecture model. Michael has brought an insightful, calm and focused approach to problem-solving for a range of complex business challenges. On behalf of all our people, I want to thank Michael for two decades of thoughtful, measured and principled leadership.” As chair of IPG’s board of directors he will be succeeded by David Thomas, who said of Roth: “His leadership has been instrumental in making IPG the advertising sector’s top-performing company across a range of key financial and operational metrics.” Michael has always been a champion of talent as the bedrock of great agency brands.Mark Read, chief executive of WPP Meanwhile, a long-time adversary, Martin Sorrell, formerly the CEO of WPP and now chair of S4 Capital, praised Roth’s time in charge of the agency network. “Michael clearly did an outstanding job in leading IPG out of a difficult position at the beginning of the new millennium and setting them in a new direction. He increased their growth rate, both top and line and now they’ve almost caught up with the Big Three in terms of market capitalization,” Sorrell outlined. “The boy done well.” And current WPP chief Mark Read praised Roth for his focus on people: “Michael has always been a champion of talent as the bedrock of great agency brands. He has also been a leader in pushing for greater diversity in our industry, to the benefit of all. We wish him all the best in his retirement.” And Jacki Kelley, CEO of Americas for Dentsu, told Adweek that while Roth was “an unexpected advertising executive” he also turned out to be “one of the finest.” Kelley also spoke of his focus on people: “He has done more than any other CEO in advancing diversity in our industry. He remains one of the best people I have ever had the privilege to work for and pitch with. A brilliant blend of trust and accountability. He has left the advertising industry far better than he found us.” David Droga, CEO and creative chairman, Accenture Interactive, highlighted one of Roth's other enduring legacies. "His legendary mane will be missed by hair aficionados industry-wide." Michael is leaving at the top of his career, and he’ll remain an important part of R/GA and our success.Bob Greenberg, R/GA founder and executive chairman Maurice Lévy, chairman of the Supervisory Board and former CEO of Publicis Groupe: “People were dubious about his ability to turn around IPG. Very calmly and elegantly he did a terrific job and has always been a fair competition. Kudos. I wish him well.” Bob Greenberg, R/GA founder and executive chairman said that the agency owed "a tremendous amount of appreciation" to Roth. "During the 20 years I was fortunate to work with Michael and his team, he was always very supportive of R/GA, our growth, and our unusual approach to creativity. R/GA is doing very well and moving in the right direction under Sean’s leadership, and we also have Michael’s lasting legacy to thank for this - making IPG profitable, diversifying the portfolio, and investing in companies like R/GA. Michael is leaving at the top of his career, and he’ll remain an important part of R/GA and our success." Finally, Carter Murray, global chief executive of FCB paid his own tribute: “Working with Michael has been one of the great privileges of my career and I know many others feel the same. If you look at IPG when he took it over and IPG today, it’s an extraordinary story of a business turnaround and standing for what’s important." Interpublic Group Is Divesting From HackerAgency After 18 Years