Brian Lesser
Brian D. Lesser | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1975 |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | BA Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania (1996) MBA from Columbia Business School (2004) |
| Occupation | businessman |
| Title | Xandr (CEO) GroupM (CEO, 2015) Xaxis (Founder, 2011) 24/7 Media (Vice President, 2006) |
| Father | Michael S. "Mike" Lesser |
| Awards | Executive of the Year (AdWeek, 2018) Advertising Age “40 Under 40” list (2014) |
Brian D. Lesser is an American businessman who is the former CEO of Xandr and the incoming global CEO of GroupM, a WPP company.
Family and education
[edit]Born about 1975,[1] Lesser was introduced to the advertising industry at an early age by his father, Michael S. "Mike" Lesser, who was chairman and CEO of Lowe Marschalk (later Lowe & Partners Inc.),[2] then president of Ogilvy & Mather New York.[3][4][5] Mike Lesser was also general manager of The November Group, the advertising arm of the Committee for the Re-Election of the President Richard Nixon, known in pop culture as C.R.E.E.P formed solely to create an ad campaign for the 1972 United States presidential election[6].
Brian Lesser received a BA in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania in 1996, then earned an MBA from Columbia Business School in 2004.[citation needed] He resides in New Jersey with his wife and three children.[7]
Career
[edit]In 2006, Lesser was vice president of 24/7 Media, then senior vice president of the Media Innovation Group, LLC (known as “The MIG”).
In 2011, he founded Xaxis as a subsidiary of GroupM; he then became CEO of GroupM in November 2015,[8] overseeing six media agencies.[9] As CEO from 2015-2017, WPP's business experienced a 2.3% decline on like-for-like business [10], while the broader advertising market grew by approximately 3.4% in 2017, indicating that GroupM underperformed relative to the industry.
In October 2017, Lesser was recruited by former GroupM client AT&T[10] as CEO of Advertising and Analytics.[8]
In September 2018, Advertising and Analytics was renamed Xandr, a subsidiary of AT&T, and Lesser was appointed CEO.[11] Lesser resigned in 2020 after being informed he would not be appointed CEO of WarnerMedia, a position he had been considered for[12][13][14].
During Lesser's tenure at AT&T's Xandr, InfoSum, a data clean room company, pitched and secured strategic investment from Xandr as part of its $15.1M Series A funding round which closed in September of 2020.
Three months later, in December 2020, Lesser stepped into the role of CEO and Chairman of InfoSum[15] which then raised another $65M in 2021. Though the firm's revenue, as of April 2025 was approximately $14.2M[16], AdAge reported its 2021 valuation at $300M.
Lesser resigned as CEO and Chairman at InfoSum in July 2024 to become Global CEO at GroupM in September 2024. In 2025, it was announced that GroupM acquired InfoSum for $150M, and would then sit within GroupM, now led by Lesser.
In 2014, Lesser was named to the Ad Age's “40 Under 40” list[1] and, in 2018, was recognized by AdWeek as "Executive of the Year".[17]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "Meet Ad Age's 40 Under 40". Ad Age. Advertising Age. 2014-01-20. Archived from the original on 2017-07-04.
- ^ McDonough, John; Egolf, Karen (2002). The Advertising Age Encyclopedia of Advertising. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. p. 1930. ISBN 1579581722.
- ^ Poggi, Jeanine (2018-09-10). "A HIGHER CALLING". Ad Age. Advertising Age. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
- ^ Quenqua, Douglas (2015-06-11). "Q&A: New CEO Brian Lesser on GroupM's digital reinvention". CampaignLive. Haymarket Media Group Ltd. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
- ^ "Xaxis' Lesser Followed The Paternal Path To Change Advertising". Beet.tv. Beet Media LLC. 2015-08-28. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
- ^ Dougherty, Philip H. (1972-03-27). "Advertising". The New York Times. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
- ^ "ExchangeWire Live in New York". Exchange Wire. 2017-03-22. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
- ^ a b "Brian D Lesser". Bloomberg. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
- ^ Oxfeld, Jesse (September 22, 2016). "Q+A: GroupM's Brian Lesser". Traffic. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
- ^ Poggi, Jeanine (June 15, 2018). "AT&T'S BRIAN LESSER LAYS OUT HIS GRAND AD PLAN FOLLOWING THE TIME WARNER DEAL". Ad Age. Advertising Age. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
- ^ "AT&T combines AppNexus with its own ad businesses to form Xandr". Ad News. September 26, 2018. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
- ^ "Xandr has lost its CEO | Advertising". Campaign Asia. Retrieved 2025-04-17.
- ^ "Xandr CEO Brian Lesser quits". www.campaignlive.co.uk. Retrieved 2025-04-17.
- ^ Sluis, Sarah (2020-03-11). "Xandr CEO Brian Lesser Reportedly Resigns". AdExchanger. Retrieved 2025-04-17.
- ^ "Brian Lesser Takes CEO Role At Consumer Identity Startup". www.mediapost.com. Retrieved 2025-04-17.
- ^ "InfoSum - 2025 Company Profile - Tracxn". tracxn.com. 2025-04-08. Retrieved 2025-04-17.
- ^ "2018's Digital Hot List: The Movers and Innovators That Got Us Excited This Year". Ad Age. Advertising Age. October 14, 2018. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
External links
[edit]- "AT&T's Brian Lesser on the future of advertising"; CNBC; Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity; June 20, 2018; Accessed August 9, 2019.