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 Qantas ( ), formally Qantas Airways Limited, is the flag carrier of Australia, and the largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations in Australia and List of largest airlines in Oceania, Oceania. A foundi ...

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.

Early life and education

Sampson was born in

Sydney, Nova Scotia Sydney is a former city and urban community on the east coast of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Sydney was founded in 1785 by the British, was incorporated as a city in 1904, and dissolv ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. He left

Cape Breton Island Cape Breton Island (, formerly '; or '; ) is a rugged and irregularly shaped island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18.7% of Nova Scotia's total area. Although ...

at age 16, completing his schooling at the Pearson United World College of the Pacific, to which he won a scholarship. He then studied economics and biology at Queen's University in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, working as a college counsellor to supplement his income. He applied for another international scholarship and went on to complete an

M.B.A. A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

. 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.

Business career

Sampson started in advertising at the

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

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 Earth Hour is a worldwide movement organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature, World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The event is held annually, encouraging the individuals, communities, and businesses to give an hour for Earth, and additionally marked ...

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 Fairfax Media was a media (communication), media company in Australia and New Zealand, with investments in newspaper, magazines, radio and digital properties. The company was founded by John Fairfax as John Fairfax and Sons, who purchased ''The ...

, a 2.5-billion-dollar multi-platform media company in Australasia. Effective February 2015, Sampson joined the

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.

Television career

Sampson is a regular panellist on the

ABC television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...

media review program '' Gruen''. He sometimes appears as a panellist and guest host on

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...

's '' The Project''. In October 2013, he was the subject of a science documentary series, '' Redesign My Brain''. The documentary won the 2014

AACTA Award The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the film and television industry, ...

for Best Documentary Television Program. Sampson has also written and hosted an adventure science series for Discovery International and

Network 10 Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's UK & Australia division and is one of the five national free-to-a ...

called '' Todd Sampson's Body Hack''. ''Body Hack'' was nominated for two Logie Awards – Best Factual Series and Most Outstanding Documentary Series. Sampson also acted a small part as Provost in the Oscar-nominated feature film ''

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

''. In early 2017, Sampson hosted an

ABC Science ABC News, also known as ABC News and Current Affairs, is a public news service produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The service covers both local and world affairs, broadcasting both nationally as ABC News, and across the Asia- ...

documentary called ''Life on the Line''. In 2021, the two-part documentary series ''Mirror, Mirror'', created and written by Sampson, screened on Network Ten. The documentary explored the crisis of body image dissatisfaction in society and the manipulative trillion-dollar industry that profits from it. A second season explores how the internet is changing society and what people can do about it.

Personal life

Sampson has lived in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs since arriving in Australia and renovated a house in Vaucluse in 2020. He is married to Neomie Sampson, who he first met at a work function in the 1990s, before a chance encounter in the early 2000s. The couple has two daughters, Coco and Jet. Sampson is an adventurer, having completed an unguided ascent to the top of

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

Awards

The Australian Financial Review The ''Australian Financial Review'' (''AFR'') is an Australian compact daily newspaper with a focus on business, politics and economic affairs. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New South Wales, and has been published continuously since its foun ...

'' 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 Walsh Bay is a bay within Port Jackson, about south of the suburb McMahons Point. It is named after Henry Deane Walsh, Engineer-in-chief of the Sydney Harbour Trust. Walsh Bay is officially defined as that body of water that stretches from th ...

in February and March 2013.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sampson, Todd 1970 births People educated at a United World College Australian television personalities Australian chief executives Australian people of Canadian descent Australian summiters of Mount Everest Canadian summiters of Mount Everest Canadian emigrants to Australia Canadian television personalities Canadian chief executives Living people People from Sydney, Nova Scotia