Who Founded McKinsey?

James O. McKinsey was an American accounting professor at the University of Chicago and the founder of McKinsey & Company. He saw that large companies managed their finances inefficiently, and in 1926 he opened his firm in Chicago. He applied accounting principles and data to questions of corporate strategy, an approach that helped define management consulting as a profession.

James O. McKinsey was born in 1889 in Gamma. Education: University of Arkansas; University of Central Missouri; Saint Louis University.

Marvin Bower was an American corporate lawyer who joined McKinsey's firm in 1933 and is often called its modern founder. After James McKinsey's sudden death, Bower took over leadership of the firm. He set strict professional standards, including independence from clients, intellectual honesty and formal dress. He also recruited graduates directly from Harvard Business School in place of experienced industry managers, a practice that shaped the firm's culture and reputation.

Marvin Bower was born in 1903 in Cincinnati. Education: Brown University.