Mumbai: Global advertising major WPP has revealed detailed spending data of its top clients—including Google, Coca-Cola, Unilever and Ford—after submitting internal documents as evidence in a US legal dispute with a former senior executive. The material, now publicly accessible through court filings, outlines more than $9 billion in annual advertising outlays and other commercially sensitive information, according to a report by The Times.
The disclosure stems from WPP’s defence against a $100 million claim brought by Richard Foster, a former division head within the group’s media-buying arm, previously known as GroupM and now WPP Media. Foster, who spent 17 years at the company before being laid off last summer, alleges he was dismissed for raising internal concerns that WPP retained undisclosed rebates or discounts secured on media purchases rather than passing them on to clients.
To counter the whistleblower claim, WPP filed in court a 35-page document Foster had prepared in December 2024. The company argued the report was a business proposal—focused on establishing a new entertainment unit—and did not allege wrongdoing, calling Foster a “disgruntled former employee” seeking additional severance and publicity. WPP added that its media-buying operations are routinely audited and that no rebate handling had ever been deemed improper.
However, the report contains granular commercial data, including a table of the top 20 WPP Media clients’ marketing expenditures in 2023 and breakdowns of ad placements by platform. The filing shows nearly $5 billion spent on Google advertising alone, including about $299 million from Ford, $194 million from Unilever and $101 million from Adidas. It also details agency-level revenue, staffing costs and profit-and-loss information, as well as spend by companies such as JPMorgan, Shell and Cartier across specific WPP units.
Foster’s document further alleged that WPP generated roughly $1 billion in annual profit from “non-product-related income”—including rebate-linked arrangements—with growth targets of 15 per cent.
Industry observers say the exposure of such information could have strategic implications. Ivan Fernandes, a former WPP executive now advising rival groups including Publicis, told The Times the filing appeared “commercially significant”, noting the material amounted to internal competitive intelligence rather than a typical court record.
WPP, led by chief executive Cindy Rose since 2024, has accused Foster of attempting to “extort” a larger payout by threatening to publicise allegations. Foster’s lawyers, led by Bill Brewer of Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors, have rejected that characterisation, saying the claim lacks evidentiary support.
WPP declined to comment. The case is ongoing in a US court.
