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_(54960644081).jpg) Headquarters at Boston'sSeaport District | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Management consulting |
| Founded | 1963; 63 years ago (1963) |
| Founder | Bruce Henderson |
| Headquarters | Boston,Massachusetts, U.S. |
Number of locations | More than 100 offices[1] |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
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| Revenue | $13.5 billion (2024)[2] |
Number of employees | 36,000 worldwide[3] |
| Website | www |
Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) is an American globalmanagement consulting firm founded in 1963 and headquartered inBoston, Massachusetts.[4] It is one of the "Big Three" (also known as "MBB", representing the first initials of world's three largest management consulting firms by revenue) along withMcKinsey & Company andBain & Company. Since 2021, BCG has been led by the German executive Christoph Schweizer.[5][6][7]
The firm was founded in 1963 as part of The Boston Safe Deposit and Trust Company.Bruce Henderson had been recruited fromArthur D. Little to establish the consulting arm operating as a subsidiary under the name Management and Consulting Division of the Boston Safe Deposit and Trust Company. Initially the division only advised clients of the bank, with billings for the first month at just US$500. Henderson hired his second consultant, Arthur P. Contas, in December 1963.[8] In 1966, BCG opened its second office in Tokyo, Japan.[9]
In 1967, Henderson metBill Bain and offered him a role at the firm. Bain agreed and joined in 1967 at a starting salary of $17,000 per year (equivalent to $160,000 in 2024).[10][11][12] In the early 1970s, Bain was considered internally to be Henderson's eventual successor. However, in 1973 Bain resigned from BCG to start his own strategy consulting firm,Bain & Company, hiring away six of BCG's employees.[10][11]
In 1974, Henderson arranged anemployee stock ownership plan so that the employees could make the company independent from The Boston Safe Deposit and Trust Company. The buyout of all shares was completed in 1979.[13]
In the 1970s, BCG created and popularized the "growth–share matrix," a chart to help large corporations decide how to allocate cash among their business units. The corporation would categorize its business units as "Stars," "Cash Cows," "Question Marks," or "Dogs," and then allocate cash accordingly, moving money from "Cash Cows" toward "Stars" and "Question Marks," which have higher market growth rates and hence greater upside potential.[14]
In the 1980s, BCG introduced the concept of time-based competition that reconsidered the role of time management in providing market advantages. The concept was the subject of an essay in theHarvard Business Review.[15]
In May 2021, the firm elected Christoph Schweizer as CEO, replacingRich Lesser who would step down and serve as the firm's Global Chair.[16]
In 2022, Boston Consulting Group released its "2022 Annual Sustainability Report" highlighting numerous initiatives focused on societal and planetary impact. Since 2015, the progress in numbers is 30% less greenhouse gas emissions, 20% less water usage, 15% less waste generation, and 10% less energy consumption.[17]
BCG typically hires for an associate or a consultant position, recruiting fromtop undergraduate colleges, advanced degree programs andbusiness schools.[18]
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An article published byThe New York Times on January 19, 2020, identified the Boston Consulting Group as having worked withIsabel dos Santos, who exploited Angola's natural resources while the country suffers from poverty, illiteracy, and infant mortality.[19] According to the article, BCG was contracted by the Angolan state-owned petroleum companySonangol, as well as the jewelry companyDe Grisogono, owned by her husband through shell companies in Luxembourg, Malta and the Netherlands; the firm was reportedly paid through offshore companies in tax havens such as Malta.[19]
Between October 2024 and May 2025 BCG helped design and run the business operations of theGaza Humanitarian Foundation,[20][21] which in turn has been linked to US-based private security firms, and is being investigated over the identity of its donors.[22]In June 2025, BCG terminated its contract with the GHF. It had said that the work was done "pro bono" butThe Washington Post reported that BCG submitted invoices of over $1 million per month.[23] BCG then fired two senior partners, calling the work they oversaw for GHF "unauthorized".[24]
The two senior partners dismissed by BCG were Matt Schlueter and Ryan Ordway, both from the firm's U.S. defense and security practice, who did not disclose the full nature of their engagement and oversaw the GHF work without authorization.[25]
It was later revealed by theFinancial Times that BCG's work, codenamed Project Aurora,[26][27] was more extensive than previously disclosed, covering more than $4 million of contracted work. It also included modeling work on the postwar reconstruction of Gaza, including cost estimates for giving hundreds of thousands of Gazans 'relocation packages' worth $9,000 per person in exchange for them leaving the territory.[21]
Save the Children suspended its partnership with BCG as a result of BCG's work with the GHF and for "modelling a plan toforcibly relocate Palestinians from Gaza".[28]
Gabe Winn, CEO and founder of Blakeney, emphasised inPR Week that it was not only a matter of failed communications, but rather BCG's culture.[29]
In 2025, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) was reported to have contributed financial modelling to a controversial postwar redevelopment proposal for the Gaza Strip. The proposal, referred to as the Great Trust, was initiated by a group of Israeli businessmen and presented to the Trump administration. It envisioned transforming Gaza into a regional trading and industrial hub, with speculative projects such as a "Trump Riviera" and an "Elon Musk Smart Manufacturing Zone".[30]
As part of its involvement, BCG consultants modelled various redevelopment and resettlement scenarios, including a proposal to offer financial incentives for up to 500,000 Palestinians to voluntarily relocate from Gaza. A confidential spreadsheet created by the firm explored potential destination countries such asSomalia, the breakaway region ofSomaliland, theUnited Arab Emirates,Egypt, andJordan. These assumptions aligned with reports at the time that the U.S. and Israeli governments had informally approached East African countries about accepting Palestinian refugees. The relocation component was widely condemned; United Nations officials likened it to ethnic cleansing, and several European governments criticized the concept. Egypt and other Arab states also firmly rejected the idea, citing concerns over permanent resettlement and domestic instability.[31]
The episode led to parliamentary scrutiny in the UK, as well as a broader reassessment of BCG's role in international aid and reconstruction efforts. The World Food Programme also reviewed its collaboration with the firm following revelations about its involvement in the Gaza proposal.[32]
The New York Times also reported that Boston Consulting Group is one of the consulting firms, along withMcKinsey andBooz Allen, helpingCrown PrinceMohammed bin Salman consolidate power inSaudi Arabia.[33] While a BCG spokesperson said the firm turns down projects involving military and intelligence strategy, BCG is involved in designing the economic blueprint for the country, a plan calledVision 2030.[33]
In June 2021, BCG was hired to examine the feasibility for the country to host the2030 FIFA World Cup. The bid was assessed to be a great deal, asFIFA's policy of continental rotation blocked all theAsian Football Confederation (AFC) nations from hosting the World Cup until 2034, afterQatar was set to become the first Middle Eastern nation to host the tournament in 2022.[34] Saudi Arabia would eventually receive hosting rights for the2034 FIFA World Cup instead.
In 2024, BCG consulting heads were summoned to appear before congress to disclose financial details between them and Saudi Arabia and warned staff that they could face jail time if they reveal information.[35]
Boston Consulting Group has received criticism for its involvement in the construction of theNew Karolinska Solna University Hospital after an investigation byDagens Nyheter. Specifically, the potential conflict of interest where a former BCG employee and then hospital executive approved numerous expenses without proper receipts and the high cost paid for external consultants including BCG.[36] In theinvestigative journalism bookKonsulterna - Kampen om Karolinska (roughlyThe Consultants - The Struggle for the Karolinska University Hospital), the authors andDagens Nyheter journalists Anna Gustavsson and Lisa Röstlund argue that thevalue-based health care model as recommended by BCG had not been properly investigated and have resulted in an exponential growth in administration and lack of responsibility for patients.[37]
Offices in 100+ cities in over 50 countries
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