Meet the leaders of MBB, the consulting giants advising the world's most powerful CEOs

Kelsey Vlamis,Tim Paradis,Lakshmi Varanasi

Mon, Jul 14, 2025, 1:15 PM 6 min read

• Meet the leaders of McKinsey, Bain, and Boston Consulting Group.

• MBB firms advise companies and governments in areas like strategy, mergers, and AI adoption.

• The firms' leaders focus on a global roster of clients and oversee tens of thousands of employees.

You might not know their names, but they likely have the ear of many powerful CEOs.

They're the leaders of what are widely considered the most prestigious strategy consulting firms: McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company, and Boston Consulting Group, which are collectively referred to as the Big 3, or MBB.

MBB firms are often tough places to land a job, and their consultants are some of the most sought-after in the industry.

They're the people tech giants like Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple — as well as government agencies — turn to for advice on things like mergers and acquisitions, business strategy, and AI adoption. MBB consultants have also gone on to lead some of the world's biggest companies.

So, who's leading the nearly hundred thousand employees across these influential firms?

Here's a look at the leaders at McKinsey, Bain, and BCG.

Bob Sternfels is the global managing partner and chair of the board of directors at McKinsey, which is headquartered in New York City and has offices around the world. The firm employs about 40,000 people.

Senior partners first elected Sternfels in 2021 and re-elected him to a second three-year term in 2024.

Sternfels grew up in California's Central Valley and has worked at McKinsey since 1994, when he joined the San Francisco office. Prior to becoming global managing partner, he led McKinsey's client capabilities around the world. Before that, he ran the operations practice for the Americas and the private equity and principal investors practice globally.

He studied economics and history at Stanford University, where he also played Division I varsity water polo. Sternfels has said on several occasions that his sports background has influenced his leadership style. He got his master's in politics, philosophy, and economics at the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

Sternfels recently told Business Insider that humor and vulnerability are some of his key leadership tools. He also said he likes to take small groups on walks when visiting McKinsey offices because it can help folks open up.

"A little levity — a joke at your own expense, a lighthearted moment — can go a long way toward building trust, breaking down barriers, and democratizing the team room," he said.