There is a guy called Sir Martin Sorrell. And why am I telling you about him? Well, he was here at Oxford yesterday to give a speech, and a good speech it was.
Who is Sir Martin Sorrell?
He is Chief executive of WPP, one of the world's largest communications services groups. More on him below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Sorrell
http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/2005/time100/builders/100sorrell.html
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/catalyst/2005/12/08/stories/2005120800200100.htm
And why is he special?
Starting as wire basket (?!) company, the company is now one the largest communications (?!)group... the man is all about all M&A... Just see the list of companies here, and you should have you mouth open..
From Time - "Advertising legend David Ogilvy didn't mince words, so when Martin Sorrell's WPP, a London-based former manufacturer of wire baskets, launched a hostile takeover of Ogilvy & Mather in 1989, Ogilvy denounced CEO Sorrell as an "odious little jerk."
How was the speech?
http://www.science-enterprise.ox.ac.uk/html/activities_event_details.asp?eventid=221
Well, the topic was "Why making money is about a lot more than making money?".. Now why wouldn't I attend this lecture? The room was overflowing; somehow everyone does the same research that I do...hmmm. The speech was fast and breezy; the room was at pin-drop silence all along.
He talked about everything, from Media wars in China to Indian IT companies to growing markets in India/China. He also covered the nowadays-most-famous topic - Corporate Social Responsibility. Not surprisingly, the MBA folks had tons of questions; if not for the facilitator's intervention, he would have gone for long. A great guy to listen to anyday.
I learnt somewhere that he paid quite a lot of money (nearly $54m) for his divorced wife as alimony. Hmm, I hope my would-be wife is so rich.. ;) not that I will divorce for money ;))
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