• by Larissa Faw , April 12, 2018

Omnicom's current CEO John Wren is adding to his responsibilities, according to today's proxy statement.

Wren will assume the role of chairman, in addition to his current CEO duties. That's after current chairman Bruce Crawford retires at the annual meeting on May 22.

"In anticipation of Mr. Crawford’s retirement, the Board spent considerable time reevaluating its leadership structure and assessing various succession options," reports the SEC filing. "Through extensive shareholder engagement, the Board learned that in light of our strong Lead Independent Director role coupled with the complexity of our Company and our business, shareholders were largely supportive" of combining the roles.

Wren has been president of Omnicom since 1996 and CEO since 1997. He also has served as a director since 1993.

The Brooklyn-born executive is considered a lifer, having been part of the team that created Omnicom in 1986, two years after entering the advertising business as an executive vice president with Needham Harper Worldwide.

He was appointed CEO of the Diversified Agency Services (DAS), division of Omnicom in 1990, reports Bloomberg.

Crawford will be joined in retirement by two other long-serving directors: Jack Purcell and John Murphy.