Maurice Levy just gave a big hint about who his successor at Publicis will be
The advertising group's CEO said he would prefer someone from inside of the company. "Yes. So it's unequivocal. YES," he emphasized.
Arthur Sadoun, who leads all creative and communications agencies as head of Publicis Communications, is regarded as one of the favorites to take over from Lévy.
When asked about the selection process, Lévy said: "I don't choose him," revealing his successor would be male. "We are a public company, we have a governance who is working very well, so it's the board and it's working pretty well."
Maurice Lévy, now 74-years-old, was originally set to retire in 2011 but Publicis' board asked him to stay on.
In 2015, Publicis Groupe added a "Management Board+" to its two existing governing bodies (the Management Board and the Supervisory Board).
Added to the new governing body were Arthur Sadoun as well as the CEO of Publicis Media Steve King, the chairman of Publicis.Sapient Alan J. Herrick, and the recently appointed Chief Strategy and Growth Officer Rishad Tobaccowala.
It is possible that more information on Lévy's successor will be given during the group's annual results announcement on February 9.
Earlier in the Bloomberg interview, Lévy said Brexit and the upcoming French and German elections were creating a lack of visibility for 2017.
"So this will probably create a lot of issues and problems. And, at the same time, everyone in Europe wants to continue to have good relationships with the UK, and UK there," he said.