WPP asks New York court to fine Richard Foster and remove his lawyers

The advertising group WPP is fighting back in a court case brought by a former manager, Richard Foster. On August 26 it asked the New York State Supreme Court to throw out his updated claim for good, to fine him, and to remove his law firm, Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors, from the case. WPP also wants the judge to make Foster explain how he got hold of details of an internal Sony investigation, and who he passed them to.

Foster worked at GroupM for seventeen years. GroupM is WPP’s media buying arm, now called WPP Media. His last job there was chief executive of Motion Content Group. He sued in November 2025. He says he was pushed out after telling senior managers that the group had held on to between $1.5 billion and $2 billion in media rebates over five years instead of passing them to clients. A rebate is money an advertising group gets back from media owners for buying a lot of advertising space. Foster is asking for $100 million.

The case changed on August 13. Foster updated his claim to include what he says are findings from a Sony investigation into GroupM’s media buying in China. According to that filing, Sony found that in one year the operation gave back about $110 million in rebates to clients, while roughly $350 million stayed in a pool clients were not told about. WPP said at the time that both versions of the claim were baseless, and that it would file its request to dismiss again.

WPP disputes how Foster got the Sony files, not the numbers

WPP’s new request says Foster and his lawyers got the Sony material improperly and shared it unlawfully. It also says they revealed what was said in talks with Nicola McCormick, a lawyer who works inside WPP. WPP is not saying the numbers Foster published are wrong. Its complaint is about how he got them. WPP told the court that hiding or blacking out the Sony references now would not undo the harm. Apart from its court filings, the company has not commented.

William A. Brewer III, Foster’s lead lawyer, said in a statement that “Mr. Foster believes that WPP’s motion lacks merit” and that he expects to win. Adweek this week linked the case to two other matters. One is the Sony investigation itself. The other is a criminal case in China, where Di Fei, WPP’s former chief investment officer in China, was given a life sentence for bribery and kickbacks.

WPP’s market value has fallen from about £17bn to £3bn

The timing is difficult for chief executive Cindy Rose. She marks her first year at WPP this week. New business has partly recovered, but the company’s market value has fallen from about £17 billion to around £3 billion over the past ten years. Rebates are legal in many countries as long as they are disclosed. The claim that they were kept from clients goes to the heart of the trust media agencies rely on to sell their services. The ruling on WPP’s request will decide whether the case is narrowed sharply, or moves on to the stage where both sides must hand over evidence about the rebates.