History of Grant Thornton

The story that started it all

In 1924, 26-year-old Alexander Richardson Grant founded Alexander Grant & Co. in Chicago. Grant, who had been a senior accountant with Ernst & Ernst (now Ernst & Young), chose to leave the comfort of an established company to pursue his plan for public accounting. Alexander Grant was committed to providing services to mid-sized companies, a commitment the firm still holds today.

Building on Grant’s legacy

Despite the untimely passing of Grant in 1938, Alexander Grant & Co. continued to grow nationally under the guidance of several dynamic and innovative chief executive officers. The 1950s and early 1960s were a time of both explosive growth and centralization for the firm. The national office in Chicago was established and net revenue exceeded $5 million in 1961.

Growing and going global

During the mid-1960s, the firm’s leadership decided it was the ideal time to expand internationally. In 1969, with Wallace E. Olson at the helm, Alexander Grant & Co. joined with firms from Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom to establish the organization of Alexander Grant Tansley Witt. This organization operated successfully for 10 years.

By 1980, Alexander Grant & Co. joined with 49 other accounting firms, including Thornton Baker in the UK, a firm with similar qualities, clients, personnel numbers and values, to form a global organization, Grant Thornton International. Following its merger with Denver-based Fox & Co. in 1985, Alexander Grant & Co. became the ninth largest accounting firm in the United States, behind that era’s cadre of “Big Eight” firms.

In 1986, Alexander Grant & Co. changed its name to Grant Thornton, reflecting its affiliation with the United Kingdom firm Thornton Baker, which also changed its name to Grant Thornton.

Grant Thornton today

Now a century later, Grant Thornton delivers professional services through two specialized entities in the U.S.: Grant Thornton LLP, a licensed, certified public accounting (CPA) firm that provides audit and assurance services ― and Grant Thornton Advisors LLC (not a licensed CPA firm), which exclusively provides non-attest offerings, including tax and advisory services, and with the entities of Grant Thornton Ireland, including ones that provide attest and non-attest services, form a multinational platform.

With $2.7 billion in revenues and more than 50 offices in the U.S., Ireland and other territories, the platform represents a community of more than 12,000 problem solvers, relationship builders, and quality-driven industry specialists who know how we serve matters as much as what we do.