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Todd Sampson
Todd Sampson is a Canadian-born Australian award-winning documentary-maker and television presenter. Prior to his public career, Sampson worked as an advertising executive and from 2015-2025 sat on the Qantas board. He is best known for being a regular panellist on marketing discussion program Gruen, and has also been a guest host on The Project. His choice of t-shirts always spark a trove of controversial discussions post appearance. Sampson has also created and presented several science documentary series.
Sampson was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. He left Cape Breton Island at age 16, completing his schooling at the Pearson United World College of the Pacific, to which he won a CA$30,000 scholarship. He then studied economics and biology at Queen's University in Ontario, working as a college counsellor to supplement his income. He applied for another international scholarship and went on to complete an M.B.A. at the University of Cape Town. He credits a guest lecturer–a creative director from advertising agency Ogilvie & Mather–during his MBA for inspiring him to pursue a career in advertising.
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 later appointed CEO of Leo Burnett Australia. In August 2015, Sampson stepped back to the role of non-executive chairman. In December 2016, he resigned as chair of Leo Burnett and is no longer a part of the advertising industry.
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.
In 2014, Sampson was appointed to the board of directors of Fairfax Media, a 2.5-billion-dollar multi-platform media company in Australasia.
Effective February 2015, Sampson joined the Qantas board of directors as a non-executive director. His 9-year tenure on the board has recently been called into question with sentiments on Qantas being at an all-time low.
On 31 March 2025 it was revealed that Sampson had resigned from the Qantas board.
Sampson is a regular panellist on the ABC television media review program Gruen. He sometimes appears as a panellist and guest host on Network Ten's The Project.
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Todd Sampson
Todd Sampson is a Canadian-born Australian award-winning documentary-maker and television presenter. Prior to his public career, Sampson worked as an advertising executive and from 2015-2025 sat on the Qantas board. He is best known for being a regular panellist on marketing discussion program Gruen, and has also been a guest host on The Project. His choice of t-shirts always spark a trove of controversial discussions post appearance. Sampson has also created and presented several science documentary series.
Sampson was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. He left Cape Breton Island at age 16, completing his schooling at the Pearson United World College of the Pacific, to which he won a CA$30,000 scholarship. He then studied economics and biology at Queen's University in Ontario, working as a college counsellor to supplement his income. He applied for another international scholarship and went on to complete an M.B.A. at the University of Cape Town. He credits a guest lecturer–a creative director from advertising agency Ogilvie & Mather–during his MBA for inspiring him to pursue a career in advertising.
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 later appointed CEO of Leo Burnett Australia. In August 2015, Sampson stepped back to the role of non-executive chairman. In December 2016, he resigned as chair of Leo Burnett and is no longer a part of the advertising industry.
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.
In 2014, Sampson was appointed to the board of directors of Fairfax Media, a 2.5-billion-dollar multi-platform media company in Australasia.
Effective February 2015, Sampson joined the Qantas board of directors as a non-executive director. His 9-year tenure on the board has recently been called into question with sentiments on Qantas being at an all-time low.
On 31 March 2025 it was revealed that Sampson had resigned from the Qantas board.
Sampson is a regular panellist on the ABC television media review program Gruen. He sometimes appears as a panellist and guest host on Network Ten's The Project.
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