About me
Gustavo Martinez was the Worldwide Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of J. Walter Thompson Company, the world’s best-known marketing communications brand. Martinez is the first Hispanic CEO of a global advertising agency.
Martinez joined J. Walter Thompson Company end of 2013 as Global President. He became CEO on Jan. 1, 2015, succeeding Bob Jeffrey, who transitioned to the role of Non-Executive Chairman.
Martinez joined J. Walter Thompson Company from McCann Worldgroup, where he was President, Europe and Asia. Prior to McCann, Martinez spent 10 years at Ogilvy & Mather in multiple senior management positions, including Global Director of Brand Management, Global New Business Director and Chief Operating Officer, Ogilvy Latina, among others. Martinez's career began in Henkel Ibérica. Prior to that, he was with PWC as Manager of the Strategic Consulting department. He began working in advertising in 1993.
Mr. Martinez holds a bachelor’s and a Ph.D. in economics from the Universitat de Barcelona. He holds a PDG from IESE (Universidad de Navarra), and was a Professor of Marketing and Economics in Spain's School of Economics.
A truly “global citizen,” Martinez was born in Argentina but grew up primarily in Spain. He has also lived and worked in the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia. He speaks Spanish, English, Italian, German and Portuguese fluently.
