Feels like it has been an eternity since the last time I posted something here... but the topic is interesting.
I pretty much agree with almost everything fritmayo said. I personally respect Paul Rowland for his ideas, his concepts, his direction.
Supreme for example was a great project, an agency with a real identity and it probably influenced others in their way to handle visuals and imagery. But, as fritmayo says, it has never made money so to speak and when he left, the financial side of the agency wasn't breathtaking at all. The new Surpeme looks quite silent and much less thrilling or impressive than it was during Paul's reign there, but I wouldn't say the team that came to replace his is doing worse. It's different for sure but this doesn't tell about the financial health of the agency.
Then, as much as I loved the ideas Paul used to build and run Supreme, "his" Ford never attracted me that much. It quickly seemed like an odd mix, a kind of awkward patchwork where the different components don't really work together. There has never been such a strong and innovative brand identity as there could have been at Supreme.
Regarding Karmen, you can't really say Ford has to be credited for her breakthrough. Next clearly did the hardest part, Ford can be credited for keeping the pace of her rise. There is no small achievement, though, and they did a good job for her since she signed in.
Rowland's Ford as a serious competitor to IMG? I've never believed and even less expected this to happen. And the current slowdown you can feel from Ford these days is something some guys I know predicted one or two years ago but were called jealous back then. IMG is a mammoth, Women an extended network... It would have taken much more than the visual genius, the artistic sense and the communication tasks of a Paul Rowland to put Ford at that level on the map.
Last but not least: if Paul is bored with fashion and modeling, I would definitely understand. This business have rarely been less thrilling than it is nowadays.