The numbers behind the WPP whistleblower case tell a story of their own

Here’s what the data actually shows, broken down by what it refers to.

How big GroupM was (and how it allegedly made money)

At its peak, GroupM controlled roughly $60 billion in annual client advertising spend, giving it between 20% and 50% market share in key global markets. That scale was the source of its power: the more client money it aggregated, the better the deals it could extract from media vendors.

• $60 billion — GroupM’s annual client ad spend at peak
• 20-50% — GroupM’s market share range across global markets
• $3-4 billion — Foster’s estimate of rebate-driven deals generated over five years
• $1.5-2 billion — amount Foster alleges GroupM improperly retained
• $1 billion — GroupM’s annual net sales from non-product related income (rebates, services, purchase risk inventory), per the Project Claridges deck
• 15% — internal year-on-year growth target for that non-product income

Client opt-in data (top 30 U.S. billing clients, 2023)

According to internal documents now in the public court record, a significant portion of GroupM’s income came not from client fees but from what it recorded as “non-product related income” — a line item that bundled rebates, services, and proprietary inventory deals.

• $13.4 billion — total billings across top 30 U.S. clients
• 97.4% — share of Green and Red billings not used by opted-in clients across top 30
• 5% — share of top 30 client spend actually utilized through proprietary deals
• $2.3 billion — Google’s US billings (ranked #1 client)
• 0.51% — Google’s usage of available proprietary inventory
• 99.5% — Google’s proprietary inventory going unused
• 15% — share of top 10 clients (excluding Google) spend going through proprietary deals
• 91.9% — proprietary inventory unused by those same clients
• $8.5 billion — total billings of top 10 US clients

Global platform spend

The same internal documents also shed light on the breadth and depth of GroupM’s commercial relationships with major media platforms in 2023.

• $9.4 billion — Google global spend
• $4.9 billion — Google US spend
• $3.7 billion — Meta global spend
• $1.4 billion — Meta US spend
• $1.1 billion — Amazon global spend
• $773 million — Amazon US spend
• $1.1 billion — TikTok global spend
• $459 million — TikTok US spend
• $1.1 billion — The Trade Desk global spend
• $884 million — The Trade Desk US spend
• $440 million — Snap global spend
• $297 million — Snap US spend
• $274 million — Spotify global spend
• $179 million — Spotify US spend
• $226 million — LinkedIn global spend
• $412 million — Microsoft global spend
• $153 million — Twitter global spend
• $18.5 billion — total global spend across listed platforms
• $9.8 billion — total US spend across listed platforms

U.S. network spend (2023)

• $835 million — Disney US spend
• $700 million — NBCU (Comcast) US spend
• $540 million — Paramount US spend
• $417 million — Warner Bros. Discovery US spend
• $375 million — 21st Century Fox US spend
• $160 million — Roku US spend

Motion Content Group financials

Motion Content Group, the division Foster ran, operated on a different model. It invested GroupM’s own capital into entertainment partnerships rather than using client funds.

• $500 million — annual GroupM investment managed by Foster’s division
• 2,500+ — TV series co-produced during Foster’s tenure
• 200 — series produced per year
• 42,000+ — hours of content produced
• 35 — markets operated in
• 213% — net sales increase over five years by 2019
• 140% — US market revenue increase in Foster’s final year
• $207 million — Motion global net sales in 2024
• $642 million — Motion global billings in 2024
• $435 million — Motion content investment in 2024
• $73 million — Motion U.K. net sales in 2024 (largest market, 35% share)
• $40 million — Motion U.S. net sales in 2024 (+$22 million, +121% YoY)
• $46 million — Motion U.K. net sales in 2018 (46% of global at the time)
• 67 — dedicated Motion staff (12 global, 55 local)
• 70%+ — projected profit margins for proposed new entertainment division
• $2 billion+ — projected net sales for proposed division by 2029
• $5 billion — projected annual investment into entertainment by 2029
• $3 billion — total Motion investment into entertainment partnerships to date

TikTok deal (U.S. market test)

As part of Foster’s plan for entertainment partnerships, his division piloted a partnership with TikTok. It was structured as a transparent co-investment deal. Foster’s proposed expansion of this model, outlined in the same internal presentation, projected net sales of over $2 billion by 2029 at profit margins above 70%.

• $69.7 million — total investment across four deals (Aug 2023-Jul 2024)
• $106.7 million — total ad credits generated
• $28.8 million — total net sales
• $98.5 million — total billings (forecast 8% client discount)
• ~$30 million — profit from TikTok partnership in 14 months