Ogilvy CCO Tham Khai Meng fired

The Ogilvy Group has fired Worldwide Chief Creative Officer & Co-Chairman at Ogilvy & Mather, Tham Khai Meng. Meng has been fired following employee complaints regarding unspecified violations of company policy and subsequent investigation into his behaviour. The development was announced by John Seifert, CEO, The Ogilvy Group, in an internal memo.

Meng had held the role at the agency since 2009. He had long been the company’s creative spokesperson, an industry thought leader who appeared regularly and prominently at advertising conferences around the globe. He also led Ogilvy to win Network of the Year at Cannes five times in a row, from 2012 to 2016.

Stating that he was informed of employee complaints two weeks prior, Seifert in his memo said that after carefully reviewing the investigation's findings with several of his partners, they concluded that Khai's behaviour was a clear breach to their company values and code of conduct. He has decided to terminate Meng's employment with the company with immediate effect.

Over the last six months, a handful of agency leaders have lost their jobs due to misconduct, including Droga5’s former chief creative officer Ted Royer and WPP CEO Martin Sorrell. Beyond the C-suite, anonymous Instagram account Diet Madison Avenue steadily logged and voiced industry accusations until it was shut down last month and sued for defamation.