Tamara Ingram named JWT CEO as Gustavo Martinez resigns

Gustavo Martinez, CEO, J. Walter Thompson, has put in his papers after being slapped with a lawsuit for sexist and racist slur. A statement issued by WPP, JWT’s parent company, said, “By mutual agreement, Martinez has resigned in the best interest of the J. Walter Thompson Company.”

Meanwhile, Tamara Ingram, currently Chief Client Team Officer at WPP, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of J. Walter Thompson Company, replacing Martinez with immediate effect.

In 2015, Ingram was named WPP’s Chief Client Team Officer, overseeing the Group’s 45 global account teams, representing one-third of the Group’s $20 billion of revenues with over 38,000 employees working on these clients. Prior to that, Ingram was President and Chief Executive Officer of Team P&G, a position she held since 2007. She joined WPP’s wholly-owned data investment division, Kantar, in 2003.

George Rogers succeeds Ingram as WPP’s Chief Client Team Officer with immediate effect, in addition to his current duties as WPP’s Global Business Development Director.

As reported earlier, JWT Chief Communications Officer Erin Johnson had filed a lawsuit in New York on March 10 accusing Martinez of making multiple racist and sexist slurs, among other things.