PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a multinational professional services network based in London, England. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along with Deloitte, EY and KPMG. The PwC network is overseen by PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited, an English private company limited by guarantee. PwC operates in 149 countries, with a global workforce of more than 370,000 people (as of FY 2024). As of 2019, 26% of the workforce was based in the Americas, 26% in Asia, 32% in Western Europe, and 5% in Middle East and Africa. The company's global revenues were US$55.4 billion in FY 2024, of which $19.5 billion was generated by its Assurance practice, $12.6 billion by its Tax and Legal practice and $23.3 billion by its Advisory practice. The firm in its recent actual form was created in 1998 by a merger between two accounting firms: Coopers & Lybrand, and Price Waterhouse. Both firms had histories dating back to the 19th century. The trading name was shortened to PwC in September 2010 as part of a rebranding effort. In April 2025, PwC shut down its operations in nine African countries. The firm has been embroiled in a number of corruption controversies and crime scandals. The firm has on multiple occasions been implicated in tax fraud and tax avoidance practices. It has frequently been fined by regulators for performing audits that fail to meet auditing standards. Amid the Russo-Ukrainian war, PwC assisted Russian oligarchs to hide their wealth and contributed to bypassing global sanctions placed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
History
Coopers & Lybrand In 1854, William Cooper founded an accountancy practice at No. 13 George Street in London. It became Cooper Brothers seven years later when his three brothers joined. In 1898, Robert H. Montgomery, William M. Lybrand, Adam A. Ross Jr. and his brother T. Edward Ross formed Lybrand, Ross Brothers and Montgomery in the United States. In 1957, Cooper Brothers, along with Lybrand, Ross Bros & Montgomery and a Canadian firm (McDonald, Currie and Co.), agreed to adopt the name Coopers & Lybrand in international practice. In 1973, the three member firms in the UK, US and Canada changed their names to Coopers & Lybrand. Then in 1980, Coopers & Lybrand expanded its expertise in insolvency substantially by acquiring Cork Gully, a leading firm in that field in the UK. In 1990, in certain countries, including the UK, Coopers & Lybrand merged with Deloitte, Haskins & Sells to become Coopers & Lybrand Deloitte; in 1992 it reverted to Coopers & Lybrand. The firm relocated from George Street to modern offices designed by Dennis Lennon & Partners at Plumtree Court in 1985, and then moved to new offices designed by Terry Farrell at Embankment Place in 1994.
Price Waterhouse
In 1849, Samuel Lowell Price, an accountant, founded an accountancy practice at No. 5 Gresham Street in London. In 1865, Price went into partnership with William Hopkins Holyland and Edwin Waterhouse at No. 13 Gresham Street. Holyland left shortly afterwards to work alone in accountancy and the firm was known from 1874 as Price, Waterhouse & Co. The firm was based at No. 3, Frederick's Place in Old Jewry in London from 1899. By the late 19th century, Price Waterhouse had gained recognition as an accounting firm. It opened an office in New York City in 1890, and the American firm expanded. The original British firm opened an office in Liverpool in 1904, and then elsewhere in the United Kingdom and worldwide, each time establishing a separate partnership in each country: the worldwide practice of Price Waterhouse was, therefore, a federation of collaborating firms that had grown organically, rather than the result of an international merger. The firm relocated from Frederick's Place to modern offices at Southwark Towers in London Bridge Street in 1975. The original partnership agreement, signed by Price, Holyland, and Waterhouse could be found in the new offices there. In a further effort to take advantage of economies of scale, PW and Arthur Andersen discussed a merger in 1989 but the negotiations failed, mainly because of conflicts of interest such as Andersen's strong commercial links with IBM and PW's audit of IBM, as well as the two firms' radically different cultures. It was said by those involved with the failed merger that at the end of the discussion, the partners at the table realized they had different views of business, and the potential merger was scrapped.
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