Roberto Quarta (born May 10, 1949) is an Italian-born American businessman. He is the chairman of Smith & Nephew, and the chairman of WPP plc since June 2015.
Roberto Quarta | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 10, 1949 Italy |
| Alma mater | College of the Holy Cross (BA) |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Title | Chairman of Smith & Nephew and WPP plc |
| Board member of | Smith & Nephew WPP plc Rexel SA Italtel |
| Children | 2 |
Early life and education
Roberto Quarta was born on May 10, 1949, in Italy.[1][2] He emigrated to the United States at the age of 15, and he spent the rest of his adolescence in Brooklyn, New York City,[2] where his father was a tailor.[3] Quarta graduated from the College of the Holy Cross.[1][4]
Career
His initial industrial management career was with BTR plc, where he rose to be a board director.
In 1993 he moved to become chief executive of BBA Group, where he executed strong performance improvement and portfolio change, producing a major increase in shareholder value.[5] He later became chair of BBA (which was renamed BBA Aviation following the demerger of Fiberweb in November 2006), stepping down in 2007.
Quarta is a partner of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, a private equity group. He is on the board of two CD&R businesses, Rexel SA and Italtel. He was chairman of IMI plc (2011-2015).[6] He has been on the boards of PowerGen plc, BAE Systems plc, and Equant NV. He has been the chairman of Smith & Nephew since 2014.[7]
In June 2015, he was appointed chairman of WPP plc, succeeding Philip Lader.[8][9][10]
Following the resignation of Martin Sorrell, CEO and founder of WPP, he became executive chairman in April 2018.[11]
Personal life
Quarta is separated from his first wife, with whom he has a son and a daughter.[1]He remarried