Big Three (management consultancies)


The Big Three or MBB refers to the name colloquially given to the world's three largest strategy consulting firms by revenue. They are also considered by some to be the most prestigious firms in the management consulting industry. McKinsey is the biggest of these with an annual revenue of +$10bn followed by Boston Consulting Group and then Bain & Company.

The firms

The three consulting firms widely regarded as constituting the Big Three or MBB are McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group and Bain & Company.

McKinsey & Company

This firm was founded in Chicago by James McKinsey in 1926. The firm has grown significantly since then, establishing 104 offices located in 60 countries as of 2014. McKinsey & Company has been voted number one in "The Best Consulting Firms: Prestige" list of the Vault.com career intelligence website consecutively for 14 years since 2002. The firm currently serves two-thirds of the Fortune 1000. Their areas of expertise include management, organisation, operations and IT.

Boston Consulting Group

was founded in 1963 by Bruce D. Henderson, a former Arthur D. Little consultant and a Vanderbilt University and Harvard Business School alumnus. Starting out with only two consultants, the firm quickly grew. It currently employs 18,500 people over 85 offices in 48 countries. BCG also has been consistently featured in Consulting magazine's "Best Firms to Work For" lists since 2001. Their areas of expertise include corporate development, business growth and innovation.

Bain & Company

Bain was founded by Bill Bain in 1973 after leaving BCG. The firm pioneered private equity consulting and the fund Bain Capital was founded by partners from Bain & Company and led by Mitt Romney. It currently has 59 offices in 37 countries. Their areas of expertise include private equity, mergers and acquisitions and retail. Bain has been ranked #1 "Best Place to Work" by Glassdoor.
These three firms are among the world's largest strategy consulting firms by revenue. Their latest publicly available data is summarised in the table below:
FirmEmployees Revenue Revenue/employee ChangeLocationsHeadquarters
McKinsey & Company21,000 $10.0 B $476,000 ~4%120+New York, NY
Boston Consulting Group21,000 $8.5 B $459,000 19%~90Boston, MA
Bain & Company10,500 $4.5 B $430,000 ~10%~60Boston, MA