Recent revelations have subjected consulting giant McKinsey to awkward scrutiny. Its leader describes what could change at the influential and secretive firm.
KEVIN SNEADER, A 52-YEAR-OLD Glaswegian and 30-year veteran of McKinsey & Co., became the firm’s global managing partner in July. He spoke by phone on March 6 with Fortune about the firm’s very public spate of controversies, from charges of conflicts of interest in its bankruptcy advisory business to embarrassing entanglements from Saudi Arabia to South Africa and beyond. The conversation has been edited for clarity and space; you can read the full transcript at fortune.com.
FORTUNE: You live in Hong Kong, have visited San Francisco and New York recently, and are in Europe today. How many airline miles did you log last year?
KEVIN SNEADER: I prefer my wife not find that out. British Airways had this wonderful idea at the end of the year, which is to send an email that shows all the places you’ve been and the number of times you’ve been around the world. I stayed away from it.
We’ll mark you down as evasive for a legitimate reason on that one. Let’s discuss McKinsey’s public issues, starting on the topic of transparency. What were McKinsey’s 2018 revenues and profits?
Our revenue is running about 10 billion U.S. dollars.
And profitability?
As a private partnership, it’s not one of the things we talk about.
How about the top five revenue producing clients?
This story is from the April 2019 edition of Fortune.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the April 2019 edition of Fortune.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
THE NEW GOLD RUSH
Gold prices have soared amid global uncertainty and a central-bank-driven buying spree. But this time, the gold mining industry looks very different.
A New Season for Giving
As the PGA TOUR kicks off its 2025 season alongside its sponsors in Hawai'i, the organization is continuing to make an impact in local communities.
WELCOME TO ELONTOWN, USA
The small town of Bastrop, Texas (pop. 12,000), has become a home base for Elon Musk's business empire. What comes next is anyone's guess.
100 MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE
Our inaugural, authoritative ranking of the leaders whose innovation and impact have elevated them to the top of the business world.
ARE CEO SABBATICALS THE ULTIMATE POWER MOVE?
WHEN VENTURE capitalist Jeremy Liew and his wife were dating, they talked about how one day they would take a year to travel the world. \"That's how we'd know we'd made it,\" Liew says.
WHAT ARE THE BEST METRICS FOR MEASURING A STARTUP'S POTENTIAL?
IN HIS 2012 ESSAY \"Startup = Growth,\" Paul Graham talks about a 5% to 7% weekly growth rate as table stakes for startup success. If you're growing 10%, he says, you're doing \"exceptionally well.\"
TECH POLYMARKET'S ELECTION ACCURACY MADE SHAYNE COPLAN A STAR-BUT AN FBI RAID POINTS TO TROUBLE AHEAD
IN NOVEMBER, Shayne Coplan had a week he'll remember for the rest of his life: He got a phone call from the highest echelons at Mar-a-Lago. He went on TV for the first time. And his New York City apartment was raided by the FBI.
WHY BIG TECH IS THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY'S NEW BEST FRIEND
OVER THE PAST several years, Big Tech firms like Google and Microsoft have trumpeted ambitious plans to go carbon-neutral, or even carbon-negative, by 2030. But then the generative-AI boom came along and threw a giant wrench in their plans.
WHAT PALMER LUCKEY, THE MAN REVOLUTIONIZING WARFARE, IS AFRAID OF
PALMER LUCKEY, the founder of the $14 billion Al-powered weapons startup Anduril, has become the face of change in the defense industry.
GLOBAL BUSINESS BRACES FOR TRUMP 2.0
AROUND THE WORLD in 2024, voters chose change: in South Africa, France, Britain, and Japan. But nowhere does the anti-incumbent trend matter more than in the United States.
