Philippe Krakowsky to succeed Michael Roth as IPG CEO

IPG said on Wednesday that CEO Michael Roth will step down at the end of the year. He will be succeeded by IPG EVP and COO Philippe Krakowsky effective January 1.

IPG also reported earnings for Q3 that came in below expectations, with a revenue decrease of 5.2% year over year to $1.95 billion due to the ongoing pandemic.

Krakowsky, an 18-year IPG exec, has been the favored candidate to succeed Roth since he was elevated to COO last year. Prior to that he was CEO of IPG’s media group Mediabrands and has overseen communications, talent, business development and strategy functions. He will remain chief strategy officer at IPG.

"Philippe is the right CEO for the next era at IPG," Roth said in a statement. "He is a brilliant  strategist and effective leader who has played a key role in developing our open  architecture client service model, as well as modernizing our data, marketing  services and media solutions. Our partnership over the years has been a key factor in our long-term success with both clients and our people.” 

Roth has been executive chairman and CEO of IPG since 2004, when he was brought in from the financial world to turn around the struggling holding company after an accounting scandal. He restructured the holding company and created its open architecture model, where agencies across the group are incentivized to collaborate. 

“Michael’s leadership of IPG has been and continues to be outstanding. He has  substantially transformed the company and ushered in a new era of modern  marketing solutions," said David Thomas, Presiding Director of the IPG Board of Directors in a statement.”