IPG Mediabrands global CEO Henry Tajer steps down to return to Sydney
IPG Mediabrands global CEO Henry Tajer is set to leave the business after just two years, staff have been told in a memo.
Henry Tajer to return to Sydney
According to a report in Campaign US, Tajer will not be replaced as CEO at the holding company’s media agency network. He will return to Sydney for what the memo suggests are family reasons, while Philippe Krakowsky, chairman of IPG Mediabrands, will take over Trajer’s direct reports.
According to the memo, Tajer’s departure is no surprise internally and Krakowsky’s appointment as chairman in February of 2016 was made with that possibility in mind.
“Henry has been a part of our company for over a decade, leading our hugely successful Australian operations, the Asia Pacific region and, most recently, Mediabrands,” the memo read.
“Moving a young family halfway across the world is a courageous thing to do and we appreciate Henry’s willingness to take that step when he assumed his global role, just as we appreciate the commitment and drive that are the hallmarks of Henry’s leadership. But we also understand his desire to return home, which will see him transitioning out of his job, in preparation for a move back to Sydney.
“Our decision last February foresaw this possibility, which means this transition will be a seamless one, with Henry’s reports moving over to me. Given that I’ll continue to serve in my corporate IPG roles, I’m fortunate to know many of you well and to have become even more fully immersed in your businesses over the past 15 months.”
Prior to CEO, Tajer was chief operating officer of IPG Mediabrands’ global operations however he also remained executive chairman of the media agency network’s Australian operations and was based in Sydney during that time.
Following on from Tajer’s elevation to the top job, he quickly recruited a number of high profile Australians to US roles with former UM CEO Mat Baxter following him across the sea as global chief strategy and creative officer, John Sintras took the role of president of global business development, MNet boss Travis Johnson crossed the Pacific as global head of mobile and Cadreon’s Marc Lomas who became SVP Programmatic East (but has since departed for a global head of client services role at Amazon).
Tajer’s Entourage | Artwork: Elke Aspillera
Some of the other hires Tajer quickly made included executive director of Starcom Mediavest, who was poached to be chief strategy officer of UM’s USA operations and Former Faulkners Godbold co-founder Charles Godbold was hired to lead global media auditing for IPG Mediabrands.
IPG Mediabrands told Mumbrella that no statement was available.
He said then: “Blunt is sharp here. In my first couple of months, people were shocked about how open and direct I was about what we should and shouldn’t do, and for some people that was really confronting.”
The memo:
As you all know, the agencies within Mediabrands have been key drivers of Interpublic’s success in recent years. That’s because media is where so much of the future of our industry is being defined, particularly in digital channels, programmatic and ad tech, as well as data and analytics.
That’s why, last year, Michael Roth announced that he was more closely aligning our media offerings and IPG by asking me to serve as your Chairman, in addition to my responsibilities leading strategy and talent for the holding company. As you heard from us at that time, this move was a confirmation of how central media services have become to the evolution of marketing overall – as well as a statement of our intent to promote greater collaboration between all of our media agencies and the rest of the IPG portfolio. We’ve made real progress in these areas, but there is still a lot to be done to fully realize that opportunity.
This context is important as it relates to a development that we are announcing today, concerning Henry Tajer. Henry has been a part of our company for over a decade, leading our hugely successful Australian operations, the Asia Pacific region and, most recently, Mediabrands. Moving a young family halfway across the world is a courageous thing to do and we appreciate Henry’s willingness to take that step when he assumed his global role, just as we appreciate the commitment and drive that are the hallmarks of Henry’s leadership. But we also understand his desire to return home, which will see him transitioning out of his job, in preparation for a move back to Sydney.
Our decision last February foresaw this possibility, which means this transition will be a seamless one, with Henry’s reports moving over to me. Given that I’ll continue to serve in my corporate IPG roles, I’m fortunate to know many of you well and to have become even more fully immersed in your businesses over the past 15 months. More importantly, we are all fortunate to have such outstanding teams and talent across the organization, serving our clients by bringing them innovative and business-building ideas.
As a holding company, IPG has long been clear that our primary role is to empower our people and our agency brands. With market leaders like UM, Initiative and Magna, as well as a group of terrific SBUs, we are in a strong position to keep winning in the marketplace.
We’re counting on you to keep doing that, just as you can count on our continued support,
Philippe
Miranda Ward worked for Mumbrella from 2013 to 2017, eventually becoming deputy editor. Miranda joined Mumbrella in September 2013 from Sky News.
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Wow, that didn’t last long. Wonder what it means for the “Entourage”?
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Truly a legend and pioneer within Media. Good luck to him and his family!
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” Our decision last February foresaw the possibility ” …….. interesting statement , he took the role in March the previous year . so 11 months in the planning for him mutually leaving was in play . Interesting positioning ! Whatever the case , wish him and family the very best
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So finally the Aussie power grab on US offices is finished.
Otherwise every big role in IPG was being given to Australians and many hardworking Americans who built IPG were getting screwed.
It’s time for IPG to think of America First now.
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How things change, I guess hiring all your mates has not been the best move. It’s really no surprise, Tajer was fortunate to be at the right place at the right time. I am sure more to this story about letting the goal CEO go than we will ever know.
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Sorry to see as its great to see aussies do well overseas
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It lasted as long as it needed to.
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Yes, it is great to see Aussies do well overseas but he as an Aussie didn’t do well for the company. It was a bold move by Michael Roth to place an Aussie as a CEO for an American company. If he was an asset, he would not have be packing his bags so soon. The proof is in the pudding.
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Henry is one ballsy bloke but was too aggressive on how he bulldozde his way in an organisation that requires a stable culture. Never knew this side of him. (Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy). Wish you well Henry and have a great future.
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He wouldn’t have got there if the runs weren’t on the board and if he wasn’t good for the company. IPG had been struggling in the USA for years. His foresight, proven track record, and continual transformations for the company were just too much for other execs in the company to handle. A big loss for IPG in whichever way you try to spin it.
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With your way of thinking, no one other than Americans should run the show. Tell me, how was IPG doing with the previous CEO? Change is hard for some people to handle as it usually exposes their own ineptitude. Henry has shown great innovation over many years. He has nothing to prove. Lets see how things pan out in the next 2 years for IPG.
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