Todd Sampson

Todd Sampson

Born	Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada
Residence	Sydney, Australia
Nationality	Canadian Australian
Education	B.A. (Queen's University) M.B.A. (Cape Town University)
Occupation	CEO of Leo Burnett TV personality
Known for	Gruen Planet Redesign My Brain
Awards	CEO of the Year

Todd Sampson is an Australian television personality and CEO of the advertising agency Leo Burnett Australia. He has also climbed to the summit of Mount Everest.

Early life and education

Sampson was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Sampson left Cape Breton at age 16, completing his schooling at a United World College, to which he won a $C30,000 scholarship. He then studied economics and biology at Queens University in Ontario, working as a college counselor to supplement his income. He applied for another international scholarship and went on to complete an MBA at the University of Cape Town in 1995.

Career

Todd Sampson presenting at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre for Open Space on the 20th of February 2014

Sampson started in advertising at the Cape Town agency The White House. In the mid-1990s, he worked as a strategist at Australian company The Campaign Palace. He joined Leo Burnett Sydney in 2002 and was appointed CEO in 2007.

Under his leadership Leo Burnett has won an Agency of the Year award twelve times and was ranked as the seventh-most creative agency in the world.

He is the co-creator of the Earth Hour initiative – one of the largest environmental movements in history, reaching more than 1.4 billion people in more than 5,500 cities.

Sampson is a regular panellist on the ABC Television media review programme Gruen Planet. He appeared on its predecessor The Gruen Transfer and on spin-off series 'Gruen Nation' and 'Gruen Sweat'.

In October 2013, he was the subject of a ground-breaking science documentary series Redesign My Brain. This documentary won the 2014 AACTA Award for Best Documentary Television Program. He appears as a panellist and guest host on Network Ten's The Project.

In 2014, Todd was appointed as a non-Executive Director of Fairfax. Fairfax Media Limited [ASX:FXJ] is a 2.5 billion dollar multi-platform media company in Australasia.

Effective 25 February 2015, Todd joined the Qantas [ASX:QAN] Board of Directors as a non-Executive Director. ^[1]

Personal life

Sampson is an adventurer, having completed an unguided ascent to the top of Mount Everest. He is a MMA (mixed martial arts) fan and has competed in judo and jiujitsu events and taught tae kwon do.

Awards

The Financial Review and News Limited ranked him as one of the most influential executives in Australia. He has won a CEO of the Year Award twice and has featured on the cover of BRW magazine. He was ranked as one of the most influential men under 45 by Men's Style and was nominated for GQ's Man of the Year Award.

An art piece by Michelle St Anne called I Love Todd Sampson – Voices of the Vulnerable was performed at Walsh Bay in February and March 2013.

References