Philip Thomas is currently Executive Chairman of Informa Festivals, leading the development of a portfolio of global brands, including Cannes Lions, Game Developers Conference, Money20/20, Black Hat, and the Tech Week portfolio, including London Tech Week.
He is also the current Chairman of the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, which he led as Chief Executive between 2006 and 2016.
Until January 2025, he was Chief Executive of Ascential, a FTSE 250 company, and led the sale of the company to Informa PLC for £1.2 billion in 2024 — achieving a 55% premium and one of the highest multiples ever seen in the sector.
He sits on the BBC Future of AI in Media advisory board, and is ex-Chair and a current trustee of Media Trust. Previously, he has served as Trustee of Malaria No More and on the World Economic Forum Council on the Future of Media, and has been recognized as an Agent of Change by Management Today for his work on gender equality. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising.
He began his career as a journalist, working on national and international magazines and newspapers, including as Editor of Empire, the UK’s biggest-selling movie magazine.