Sir Martin Sorrell has revealed that he had keyhole surgery to remove a tumour in February, and will undergo further preventive cancer treatment.
The veteran advertising boss, who is executive chair of the digital-led ad group S4 Capital, said he was back almost to “business as usual” after “successful keyhole surgery”, and would continue working, in a statement to the stock market on Monday.
However, the 78-year-old will reduce his travel schedule while he has the preventive treatment.
Sorrell founded S4 Capital in 2018 after resigning as chief executive of WPP, the advertising group that he built into a member of the FTSE 100 index. Sorrell had acquired the small Kent-based maker of wire and plastic baskets in 1985 and built it into the world’s largest marketing services group.
S4 has grown rapidly in size via a series of acquisitions led by Sorrell since 2018, beginning with Dutch firm MediaMonks. It employs 8,900 people in 32 countries, with 70% of its revenues in the Americas. The stock market announcement published a copy of an internal company note from Sorrell to his employees, addressed as “S4 Monks”.
Sorrell said: “I have made an excellent recovery, and, as you would expect, I have sought the best possible medical advice. My conclusion is that I should have preventative treatment over the coming months.
“My doctors have advised me that during this treatment, I should be able to work as normal most of the time, fully engaging with the company and our excellent executive team, although I have also decided to reduce my travel schedule for a few weeks. Otherwise, business as usual.”
Sorrell had left WPP after an investigation into allegations of personal misconduct.
The price of S4 Capital’s shares soared in the years immediately after Sorrell’s takeover of a small listed cash shell company in May 2018. Starting at about 113p, they surged to more than 800p by September 2021.
However, since then the value of the company has slumped, falling to 158p on Monday. It was hit by two delays to filing its annual results after the blitz of acquisitions.
