By Nick Kostov

CANNES, France -- WPP PLC founder Martin Sorrell denied Friday that he visited a prostitute and paid with company money as he fielded questions about his reasons for resigning as chief executive of the world's largest advertising company.

"It's not true," Mr. Sorrell said.

Interviewed on stage at the Cannes Lions advertising festival by Ken Auletta of the New Yorker, Mr. Sorrell was asked about a report in The Wall Street Journal that said the company's board had investigated whether he used company money for a prostitute.

After three decades at WPP, Mr. Sorrell stepped down after the Journal reported in early April that the company's board was looking into an allegation of improper personal behavior and whether he had misused company assets, and that the board had retained a law firm for a probe. Mr. Sorrell said at the time that he rejected the allegation "unreservedly."

WPP has said the allegation didn't involve sums that were material to the company. Earlier this month, the Journal reported that the board's investigation addressed whether Mr. Sorrell used company money for a prostitute.

A spokesman for Mr. Sorrell said last week that the former CEO "strenuously denied" the allegation and would be making no further comment. He added that Mr. Sorrell had signed a nondisclosure agreement that precluded him from discussing the circumstances surrounding his departure.

The board-instigated probe has ended, but it is unclear what was determined.

Write to Nick Kostov at Nick.Kostov@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 22, 2018 09:13 ET (13:13 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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