Andersen Consulting
Andersen Consulting is a company.
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Leadership Team
Key people at Andersen Consulting.
Andersen Consulting is a company.
Key people at Andersen Consulting.
Key people at Andersen Consulting.
Andersen Consulting was the consulting arm of the Arthur Andersen accounting firm, which originated in 1913 as a high-integrity auditing practice but evolved into a major provider of consulting services by the mid-20th century[1][2][5]. It specialized in business transformation, technology consulting, operations research, and management advisory services for large corporations, solving complex problems in efficiency, IT systems, and strategic operations—such as pioneering computer applications for business data processing in the 1940s and early OR/MS solutions in finance[4][6]. The division grew highly profitable, generating nearly $2 billion in global revenues by 2000 with 11,000 consultants, before splitting from the scandal-plagued auditing business[7]. In 2001, it rebranded as Accenture, becoming an independent global leader in consulting, while remnants of Arthur Andersen reformed into modern entities like Andersen Tax and the revived Andersen brand focused on tax, legal, and consulting[3].
Arthur Andersen founded the precursor firm in 1913 in Chicago as Andersen, DeLany & Co. with partner Clarence DeLany, after rising from orphaned mail boy to the youngest CPA in Illinois at age 23, leveraging experience at Allis-Chalmers and Schlitz Brewing[1][2]. Renamed Arthur Andersen & Co. in 1918 following DeLany's exit, it expanded rapidly in the 1920s with offices in New York, Kansas City, and Los Angeles, auditing major industrials and providing investigative services, including high-profile cases like Samuel Insull's empire[2][4]. Consulting emerged prominently in the 1950s for clients like General Electric and Schlitz, outpacing accounting profits by the 1970s amid a shift toward client advocacy and tech services—such as industry-specific expertise and early computer innovations[4][5][7]. Tensions peaked as consulting's growth clashed with auditing's traditional rigor; in 1989, technology consulting partially split, and by 2000, arbitration allowed full independence, birthing Accenture in 2001 amid Arthur Andersen's Enron/WorldCom collapse[1][6][7]. Post-2002 revival saw 23 ex-partners form WTAS (later Andersen Tax in 2014, rebranded Andersen in 2019), now a top independent tax firm expanding into consulting on six continents[3].
Andersen Consulting distinguished itself through:
Andersen Consulting rode the computing and digital transformation wave of the 1950s-1990s, capitalizing on post-WWII industrialization and the PC revolution by innovating business IT applications when few firms grasped computers' potential[4][6]. Timing was ideal amid 1960s growth in Cleveland-like hubs, where small clients scaled to public firms, and 1980s tech booms demanded OR/MS for efficiency[2][4]. Market forces like regulatory shifts (pre-Sarbanes-Oxley) and client demand for consulting over pure audits favored its evolution, influencing the ecosystem by normalizing high-value advisory services—splitting accounting/consulting precedents that birthed Accenture and shaped Big Four models[1][5][7]. Its legacy persists in modern Andersen's AI/cybersecurity push and global collaborations, amplifying tax-legal-transformation synergies in a fragmented professional services market[3].
Andersen Consulting's split into Accenture and the Arthur Andersen remnants exemplifies resilience amid scandal, evolving from auditing roots into enduring consulting powerhouses. Next, expect modern Andersen to accelerate via 2020s deals—like Vivaldi for strategy and threon for execution—targeting AI, sustainability, and digital amid global tax reforms[3]. Accenture will dominate enterprise tech, while Andersen carves a nimble tax-consulting niche. Trends like regulatory scrutiny and AI ethics will test their integrity legacy, potentially expanding influence as firms blend advisory with tech in a post-SOX world—echoing the original founder's high standards that birthed these giants[1][5].
