William Eccleshare

President & CEO, Clear Channel International

After reading History at Cambridge, William Eccleshare joined J Walter Thompson, then London’s no. 1 Advertising Agency, as a trainee in 1978.  He became Managing Director in 1990 and moved to Amsterdam as CEO of PPGH/JWT in 1993.  He joined JWT’s Worldwide Board in 1995 as Director of Global Strategy.

In 1996, William joined Ammirati Puris Lintas (Interpublic Group) as UK CEO and subsequently became regional director for Northern Europe. 

In 2000, he joined McKinsey & Company as a partner and leader of the European Branding Practice.  He led major assignments in media, technology and mining sectors. William returned to the advertising industry and in 2002, joining WPP's Young & Rubicam as European Chairman and CEO.

In 2005, he became Chairman and CEO of BBDO EMEA. BBDO was Campaign magazine’s ad agency Network of the Year in 2005, 2007 and 2008.

In September 2009 William joined Clear Channel International - the world’s largest outdoor media owner - as President and CEO.

William is also a Non-Executive Director of Hays plc and a Governor of University College School.

He is married, with three children and runs marathons whenever he gets the time to train.