Founder Profile
William Welch Deloitte
Last reviewed: October 2026 · By Swet Parvadiya
Who is William Welch Deloitte?
William Welch Deloitte is a founder of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, which was founded in 1845 with George Touche and Nobuzo Tohmatsu.
- Company founded
- Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited
- Founded
- 1845
- Co-founders
- George Touche and Nobuzo Tohmatsu
Background
William Welch Deloitte was an effective, pioneering 19th-century British accountant who single-handedly founded the original London accounting practice in 1845. He is widely celebrated globally as one of the true, founding fathers of the modern, professional accounting industry, famously becoming the first independent auditor of a major public railway company.
Founding Story
William Welch Deloitte (1818-1898) opened his London accounting office in 1845. In 1849 he was appointed an independent auditor of the Great Western Railway, and he later served as president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. His firm combined with Haskins & Sells of New York in 1952, took the Deloitte Haskins & Sells name in 1978, and merged with Touche Ross in 1989. William Welch Deloitte was born in 1818.