Reportedly, partners at the world’s largest consulting firm, McKinsey, have ousted their leader, Kevin Sneader, over his handling of a series of controversies during his tentures.
The firm’s 650 senior partners voted for Sneader ahead of the final round of a leadership election, which according to the Financial Times was seen as a referendum on his three years in office.
The 54-year-old Scot would be one of the first McKinsey leaders in recent memory to serve only one term – all five of Sneader’s predecessors as global management partners have served two or more terms.
The influential firm is known for providing costly advice to governments and multinational corporations around the world. McKinsey’s network of former employees, known as the “executive headquarters”, contains some of the biggest names in business and politics.
Notable alumni include Chelsea Clinton, Sheryl Sandberg, former chief operating officer of Facebook, and former CEO of Credit Suisse Tidjane Thiam. In Britain, those who worked, or the firm, including the politician William Hague, former chairman of the HSBC, Lord Green, the former city regulator Lord Turner.
With 30,000 staff in 65 countries, McKinsey is a consultant to the British government and has picked up lucrative contracts during the Covid crisis. Last year, McKinsey consultants were paid £ 563,000 for six weeks’ work – £ 14,000 a day – to create a permanent replacement for Public Health England, which defines’ vision, purpose and narrative ‘.
But the firm, which loves slogans such as ‘Leadership through Integrity’, was stabbed during a series of crises during Sneader’s leadership.
Earlier this month, McKinsey agreed to pay nearly $ 600 million (£ 426 million) to settle a lawsuit by 49 U.S. states over its role in helping drug dealers sell more prescribed painkillers – even though the country has a nationwide epidemic. of an overdose of opioids.
The consulting firm came under pressure after legal documents revealed that it had advised OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma on how to “turbocharge” sales of the drug in 2013. The firm was found to have encouraged sales representatives to focus on doctors who have already prescribed large amounts of OxyContin. , and to try to move patients to more powerful versions of the drug.
Sneader apologized after the settlement, but did not admit guilt on behalf of McKinsey. The company announced two years ago that it would not advise clients on matters related to opioids.
The Blue-chip consultation has also been criticized for collaborating with authoritarian regimes. In 2018, the firm said it was ‘terrified’ to learn that a document it produced could have been used to target critics of the Saudi government. McKinsey said it has no evidence that the document created for internal purposes was misused.
Earlier this month, it was one of a number of consulting firms that received millions from a company embroiled in an Angolan corruption scandal. McKinsey found no irregularities in an internal investigation at the time.
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With Sneader not up and running, McKinsey is likely to be led by one of two senior partners, Bob Sternfels, or Sven Smit, w. Both apparently made it through the final round of the election, which is held every three years.
A McKinsey spokesman did not confirm Sneader’s eviction, but said: “The election, which is being held by an independent third-party firm, is now underway and we will announce the result after the election. ‘
Sneader’s downfall comes weeks after KPMG UK chairman Bill Michael resigned after telling staff during a virtual meeting about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic to stop whining.
The 52-year-old Australian, who has led the company since 2017, commented this month at a virtual city hall meeting attended by about a third of the financial services consulting team’s 1,500 staff.
Michael told the staff to stop playing the victim card and described the concept of unconscious prejudice as ‘years of complete and utter nonsense’.
Michael, who was paid £ 1.7 million last year, stepped down after the accounting firm asked law firm Linklaters to conduct an independent investigation. He later apologized, saying the controversy had made his position with the accounting giant untenable.