History
In 1924, 26-year-old Alexander Richardson Grant founded Alexander Grant & Co. in Chicago. Grant had been a senior accountant with Ernst & Ernst (now Ernst & Young), but left to pursue his plan for public accounting.
When Grant died in 1938, he was just 40 years old. Despite this unexpected loss, Alexander Grant & Co. survived the change in leadership and continued to grow nationally under the guidance of new 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.
During the mid-1960s, the firm’s leadership decided to expand internationally. With Wallace E. Olson at the helm, in 1969, Alexander Grant & Co. joined with firms from Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom to establish the firm of Alexander Grant Tansley Witt. This organization operated successfully for 10 years.
In 1980, Grant joined with 49 other international accounting firms to form Grant Thornton International. Alexander Grant & Co. became the nation's ninth largest accounting firm in 1985, behind that era's "Big Eight" firms, following its merger with Denver-based Fox & Co. In 1986, the firm changed its name to Grant Thornton, reflecting its affiliation with the United Kingdom firm Thornton Baker, which also changed its name to Grant Thornton.
Read more about this topic: Grant Thornton LLP
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