PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

ABOUT THIS COMPANY:

American representative

New York-headquartered professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) is the U.S. member firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited, whose network of firms operates in 776 locations in 158 countries and employs approximately 190,000 people. In the U.S., PwC focuses on audit and assurance, tax, and consulting services. Additionally, in the U.S., PwC concentrates on 16 key industries, and provides targeted services that include—but are not limited to—human resources, deals, forensics, and consulting services. By revenue, it’s the second-largest accounting firm in the country, according to the 2013 Accounting Today Top 100 Accounting Firms ranking. Although the firm’s reach is vast these days, in the beginning it was just Samuel Lowell Price, a London accountant who hung out his shingle in 1849. He was subsequently joined by two more accountants, and in 1865, the partnership renamed itself Price, Waterhouse and Company, which grew to become a prominent international network of independent member firms. The “Cooper” comes from William Cooper, another London accountant who started a firm with his brothers in 1854. A century later, the aptly named Cooper Brothers merged with two North American firms (Lybrand, Ross Brothers & Montgomery in the U.S. and McDonald, Currie & Company in Canada). The combined firm was named Coopers & Lybrand, and in 1998, it merged with Price Waterhouse. The tie-up was a blockbuster: both C&L and Price Waterhouse were ranked among the top-six accounting firms in the world.