• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, April 7, 2022

Publicis Groupe CEO Arthur Sadoun told employees today that he recently had a cancerous tumor removed from his neck.

In a video distributed to employees, but not released publicly, Sadoun said the prognosis is extremely positive.

“Today I can tell you that there is absolutely no reason to worry,” he told employees in the video. The company said that it is not commenting further, nor is Sadoun.

In the video Sadoun told the troops it was a “difficult decision” to disclose his cancer and treatment to them, given the very personal nature of the subject. But ultimately, he decided it was better that they hear the news directly from him and not through the rumor mill.

Still, “it is not an easy thing to say,” he added, noting that the last couple of weeks had been tough. But he also noted that many employees have experienced the disease, directly or indirectly and can therefore relate to his experience and he theirs.

Sadoun said that, leaving nothing to chance, he would remain in Paris through June for follow-up treatments.

In the video, he’s wearing an open-collared shirt and a scar several inches long is evident, although the tumor that was removed was “very small,” he said. All cancer cells were removed, he added. And while he wishes the doctors had been “a bit more discrete” with the scar, “I’ll live with it.”

The tumor was caught early. “I have been lucky that we moved so fast,” he said.

The video was shot at his office in Paris where he is back to work.