MediaCom UK CEO sees off Lewis Hamilton & Steve McQueen to top black ‘Powerlist’
Karen Blackett, chief executive of MediaCom UK, has been named as Britain’s most influential black person after topping a wide ranging list of individuals across the arts, sport, industry and politics.
Blackett’s rise to prominence as the first ever business woman to top the Power list reflects her clout in the sector, sufficient to see off the likes of Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton and Oscar winning director Steve McQueen.
Commenting on her accolade the 43 year-old told The Telegraph: “I still think it’s odd that I’m the only senior black woman in the advertising industry. I was at a Marketing Society event earlier this year, where Justin King was honoured as a Fellow. In the room there were a handful of women and two people of colour. I was one of them.”
Powerlist 2015:
1. Karen Blackett, chief executive, MediaCom UK
2. Ken Olisa, Thomson Reuters, Powerlist Foundation charity
3. Chuka Umunna, shadow business secretary (Labour MP, Streatham) / and Helen Grant, minister for sport and tourism
4. Sandie Okoro, global general council, HSBC Global Asset Management
5. Steve McQueen, artist/director
6. Matthew Ryder QC
7. Sharon White, second permanent secretary of the treasury
8. Lenny Henry and Idris Elba
9. Adrian Joseph, Search Advertising Northern
10. Lewis Hamilton, Formula 1 driver