Exclusive: At an age when most teenagers are trying to master basic hygiene, Sharb Farjami was working full time in the advertising business. Today, roughly three decades after that early start, he has risen to one of the top posts in the industry as CEO of GroupM North America. As the media buying arm of giant holding company Wpp, GroupM controls billions of dollars in annual ad spending.
“I’d love to say this was all intentional, but it’s actually rather accidental,” Farjami told Deadline in an interview. “I didn’t go to college. I left school pretty early. At 17, I went straight into media.”
After initially pursuing a career as a professional rugby player while growing up in London, Farjami recalled with a shrug, “I just wasn’t good enough.” Through sports, he added, “I met lots of people who happened to be in media in one way or another – media owners,...
“I’d love to say this was all intentional, but it’s actually rather accidental,” Farjami told Deadline in an interview. “I didn’t go to college. I left school pretty early. At 17, I went straight into media.”
After initially pursuing a career as a professional rugby player while growing up in London, Farjami recalled with a shrug, “I just wasn’t good enough.” Through sports, he added, “I met lots of people who happened to be in media in one way or another – media owners,...
- 6/13/2024
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: The Paley Center for Media has appointed four new trustees to its board and added some high profile executives to its L.A. contingent on the West Coast.
Kristin Dolan, CEO of AMC Networks, Omar Abbosh, CEO of Pearson, Brad Karp, chair of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, and Dennis Mathew, chairman-ceo of Altice USA are new to the board of trustees of the nonprofit programmer and think tank that explores all things media.
The Los Angeles Board of Governors is also expanding with Jesse Collins, founder and CEO of Jesse Collins Entertainment; Sharb Farjami, North America CEO of GroupM; Daryl Lee, Global CEO of McCann Worldgroup; Christian Muirhead, co-chairman of WME; and Ben Samek, CEO of Banijay America. They join Bela Bajaria, Jennifer Salke, Kevin Beggs, Greg Berlanti, Frances Berwick, Casey Bloys, Robert A. Boyd II, Campbell Brown, Brian Robbins, George Cheeks, Agnes Chu, Channing Dungey, Michael Kassan,...
Kristin Dolan, CEO of AMC Networks, Omar Abbosh, CEO of Pearson, Brad Karp, chair of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, and Dennis Mathew, chairman-ceo of Altice USA are new to the board of trustees of the nonprofit programmer and think tank that explores all things media.
The Los Angeles Board of Governors is also expanding with Jesse Collins, founder and CEO of Jesse Collins Entertainment; Sharb Farjami, North America CEO of GroupM; Daryl Lee, Global CEO of McCann Worldgroup; Christian Muirhead, co-chairman of WME; and Ben Samek, CEO of Banijay America. They join Bela Bajaria, Jennifer Salke, Kevin Beggs, Greg Berlanti, Frances Berwick, Casey Bloys, Robert A. Boyd II, Campbell Brown, Brian Robbins, George Cheeks, Agnes Chu, Channing Dungey, Michael Kassan,...
- 5/29/2024
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
GroupM, the media investment arm of ad agency giant Wpp, has named Sharb Farjami as its North America CEO.
Farjami replaces Kirk McDonald, whose exit was announced last October. He succeeds Mindshare’s Global CEO Adam Gerhart, who took on the added role of Interim CEO for GroupM North America during a search for McDonald’s replacement. Gerhart will continue to oversee Mindshare’s global agency operations.
The changing of the guard comes as advertising buyers and sellers are ramping up for the annual upfront season in the spring, when a large chunk of the TV ad business is transacted.
GroupM’s North America chief is an internal hire. Previously, Farjami served as North America CEO of GroupM agency Wavemaker. The company’s official announcement said Farjami helped establish Wavemaker as the leading performer in new business in North America during his tenure.
“Sharb is a hands-on, collaborative leader and...
Farjami replaces Kirk McDonald, whose exit was announced last October. He succeeds Mindshare’s Global CEO Adam Gerhart, who took on the added role of Interim CEO for GroupM North America during a search for McDonald’s replacement. Gerhart will continue to oversee Mindshare’s global agency operations.
The changing of the guard comes as advertising buyers and sellers are ramping up for the annual upfront season in the spring, when a large chunk of the TV ad business is transacted.
GroupM’s North America chief is an internal hire. Previously, Farjami served as North America CEO of GroupM agency Wavemaker. The company’s official announcement said Farjami helped establish Wavemaker as the leading performer in new business in North America during his tenure.
“Sharb is a hands-on, collaborative leader and...
- 1/22/2024
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
Sharb Farjami will take the reins of the North American operations of GroupM, the media-investment giant that is part of Wpp.
Farjami had been CEO of North American for Wavemaker, one of the big media-buying units of GroupM. “Sharb is a hands-on, collaborative leader and a brilliant thinker about the issues shaping the future of our industry,” said GroupM Global CEO Christian Juhl, in a statement. “He brings a diverse range of industry experience to the role having worked both agency and publisher-side in multiple markets around the world and his success leveraging the best of the GroupM platform to drive advantages for Wavemaker’s clients is a model for the future of our organization.”
GroupM said Farjami has “proven track record of scaling new media offerings, operationalizing new capabilities, and leading technology enabled organizations to deliver competitive differentiation for clients.” Prior to joining Wavemaker, Sharb held senior leadership positions at Foxtel,...
Farjami had been CEO of North American for Wavemaker, one of the big media-buying units of GroupM. “Sharb is a hands-on, collaborative leader and a brilliant thinker about the issues shaping the future of our industry,” said GroupM Global CEO Christian Juhl, in a statement. “He brings a diverse range of industry experience to the role having worked both agency and publisher-side in multiple markets around the world and his success leveraging the best of the GroupM platform to drive advantages for Wavemaker’s clients is a model for the future of our organization.”
GroupM said Farjami has “proven track record of scaling new media offerings, operationalizing new capabilities, and leading technology enabled organizations to deliver competitive differentiation for clients.” Prior to joining Wavemaker, Sharb held senior leadership positions at Foxtel,...
- 1/22/2024
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
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