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KPMG’s UK boss Jon Holt and the Big Four accounting firm’s global chief operating officer Gary Wingrove are in a two-person race to lead the organisation, according to people familiar with the matter.
The $40bn-in-revenue firm is due to pick a successor to current global chief executive Bill Thomas by the end of the first quarter, at a time when it has been growing its revenues more quickly than its larger Big Four rivals Deloitte, EY and PwC.
The winning candidate will need to demonstrate a return on billions of dollars in investments in technology, including AI, and manage a tricky consolidation of the KPMG International network begun under Thomas.
Holt was described by several insiders as the early favourite for the top job after almost five years running KPMG in the UK, where he is seen as having repaired its reputation from a string of audit failures.
Financial performance at the UK business, KPMG’s second largest national firm behind the US, has improved under Holt, who has cut costs and reduced the number of partners who share in the profits.
Holt, whose second term in charge of the UK firm would be cut short if he wins the global job, took over the British business in 2021 as it was mired in crisis following the resignation of Bill Michael over his comments on a video call in which he told staff to “stop moaning”.
The firm’s audit of the collapsed outsourcing company Carillion led to the UK’s largest-ever fine against an accounting firm. After heavy criticism of the firm and a series of fines over its work, British regulators have more recently scored KPMG’s audit quality as highly as the rest of the Big Four.
Wingrove ran KPMG’s Australia business for eight years, including through the Covid pandemic, before joining the global management team as chief operating officer in January 2022. He has been an architect of KPMG’s strategy to force consolidation among its member firms.
Unlike traditional multinationals, KPMG is structured as a network of locally owned partnerships that share a brand and technology while adhering to common standards. Merging them is seen as a way of better serving cross-border clients, eliminating inefficiencies and imposing higher audit standards across the network.
KPMG International set a goal of reducing the number of “economic units” in the network from more than 100 two years ago to 32 by this year, the FT previously reported.
Holt, who previously worked for the firm in Brussels and later became head of the UK firm’s audit business, won plaudits internally for overseeing the merger of the UK firm with its counterpart in Switzerland, according to one partner.
“The Swiss merger was Jon showing what he can do,” the person said. “It was very slick, from the financial model through to the cultural intersect, through to how he communicated and brought the partners with him. He definitely has the skill to manage a big network like KPMG, a highly political entity.”
KPMG’s federated structure means the choice of leader will have to be ratified by a global council of member firms. The KPMG International board, which includes representatives of the largest country firms, is expected to put forward the final candidate for ratification by mid-March, according to two people close to the firm.
KPMG International last month reported a 5.1 per cent increase in revenue across its global member firms for the year to September, stripping out currency fluctuations, outpacing Deloitte, EY and PwC for the second consecutive year.
Thomas, who has run the firm since 2017, had originally been scheduled to retire in 2025, but KPMG International extended his second term to allow him to oversee the remainder of a three-year investment plan.
“Bill Thomas’s term as KPMG International chair and chief executive runs to September 30 2026,” the firm said. “KPMG International has a process under way for electing a new chair and we are not commenting on speculation about candidates. We expect to announce the new chair in the first quarter of 2026.”