Omnicom swallows Interpublic—and 4,000 jobs could vanish with it, says FT

NEW YORK: The gloves are off at Omnicom. Five days after closing its $13 billion acquisition of rival Interpublic Group, the world’s newly minted advertising behemoth has unveiled plans to axe more than 4,000 employees and shutter several well-known agency brands, according to the Financial Times.

The culling comes as John Wren, chairman and chief executive, attempts to weld together what he’s calling the industry’s “most comprehensive and connected portfolio of capabilities”. Translation: a sprawling empire of creative shops, media networks and data firms now united under Omni, Omnicom’s AI-powered intelligence platform, which the company reckons will give clients an edge in a privacy-first, cookie-less world.

The new structure places seven executives at the helm of what Omnicom is branding “Connected Capabilities”. Florian Adamski takes charge of Omnicom Media, corralling agencies including OMD, PHD and Hearts & Science, plus data giant Acxiom. Troy Ruhanen inherits Omnicom Advertising, home to BBDO, McCann and TBWA. Duncan Painter will run both Omni and Flywheel Commerce Network. Chris Foster leads public relations, Sergio Lopez handles production, and Michael Larson oversees diversified agency services.

Beneath them sit more chiefs: Dana Maiman running Omnicom Health, Mark O’Brien steering Omnicom Branding (Interbrand, Wolff Olins and others), and Luke Taylor commanding Omnicom Precision Marketing. Jacki Kelley and Andrea Lennon will manage client success, whilst George Manas—currently running OMD Worldwide until February—takes on enterprise-wide growth and new business.

Omnicom is pitching five “strategic advantages” to justify the upheaval: the world’s largest media network, superior creative firepower turbocharged by generative AI, integrated commerce capabilities, enterprise-scale AI investment, and what it calls “identity leadership”—a privacy-compliant alternative to third-party cookies built on 2.6 billion verified global IDs.

Early client feedback has been “overwhelmingly positive,” the company insists. It plans a grand unveiling at CES 2026 in Las Vegas this January, followed by year-end earnings in February and an investor day shortly after. As a show of confidence, Omnicom bumped its dividend to $0.80 per share on 26 November.

But the timing is brutal. The advertising industry faces what some are calling an existential crisis as artificial intelligence rewrites the rules of creative production and tech giants like Meta make it absurdly easy for businesses to generate ads at scale and speed. Omnicom’s bet is that size, data and AI prowess will insulate it from the storm. The 4,000 people losing their jobs might beg to differ. Welcome to intelligent growth, Omnicom-style.