Mark Read, CEO/executive director, WPP

In a wide-ranging conversation on all things WPP, Read discusses his early moves, including merging agency brands VML with Y&R and JWT with Wunderman. In the past 18 months, WPP has shared more than 40 assets in a bid to become more streamlined. Read, the chief executive of the world's largest advertising holding company, talks about creativity, and examines what's holding WPP back in North America, the companies data play, his response to his feisty predecessor's potshots and more.