There must be something different and very unique at EY.
For why would somebody with as diverse and ultimate experience as Mark
Weinberger re-joined the consulting & professional services global
major three times (which makes it to him joining it four times)? The
answer to this could be the based on so many interpretations, if you
will. For example, one could say the Weinberger&EY are alike – very
different and special, therefore made for each other and, hence, either
of them (assuming them to be entities for arguments’ sake) could not
live without one another. Then there could be the fact that, as time
passed by, either of them could have, perhaps, re-assessed each other
and, over time, have found more value (again subject to interpretation)
in each other. Complex?
Figure this possibility: Weinberger, the
man with multiple academic degrees adding to his scholastic pedigree,
being the quintessential entrepreneur, took it upon himself to take
charge of the situation and create success of it, when an opportunity
presented itself (there were many). So he went places, be it in the
private or the public sectors. Every time he did enough to make a case
for re-uniting with EY. The other way to look at it would be, with each
success he had, Weinberg became ever more attached to EY than before.The
honeymoon continues.
Of high erudition…
If
one were to think as to how do the leaders of the world’s prolific
leading and professional companies such as EY, KPMG, Deloitte &
Touché, and PWC, etc., look like, or what quality of people head these
companies who seem to shape and define and drive the destinies of so
many corporations in the world, then the likes of Mark Weinberger would,
perhaps, be not the easiest to find. The simple reason being, not only
is his experience absolutely diverse and inside-out, but his
educational grounding is equally superb. The EY supremo graduated from
Wyoming Seminary in Kingston(PA), holds a B.A. (Economics) from Emory
University in Atlanta (GA), an M.B.A. and J.D. from Case Western Reserve
University in Cleveland (OH), and a Master of Laws in Taxation from
Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C.
From EY to EY – the 3-decade journey sprinkled with some US government and policy positions
Mark
Weinberger joined EY in 1987 as a staff-member (entry-level). Even
before he turned 3o, he decided to move to something entirely different –
the public sector. The move was prompted in 1990 after he joined
Senator John C. Danforth(R – Missouri) as his Tax and Budget Counsel.
That
was his initial sniff of anything of a public sector nature. This was
followed (in 1994) by a surprise appointment that came from the White
House and from none other than the (then) president (of US) himself,
Bill Clinton. He was asked to serve as Chief of Staff and General
Counsel to President Clinton's 1994 Bipartisan Commission on Entitlement
and Tax reform, which he took up ever so easily.
Co-founding the all-powerful Washington Counsel, P.C.
Around
late-Februaryin 1996, a group of seven current partners of law firms
decided to join hands and form a new company that would provide
specialized services. Accordingly, in March 96,sevenpartners of
Washington D.C. law firms co-founded a new law firm that went by the
name ‘Washington Counsel, P.C.
Attorneys at Law’.The partners included
Dan Crippen, partner in the Duberstein Group; and six partners of the
law firm Oldaker Ryan & Leonard: Jayne Fitzgerald, LaBrenda
Garrett-Nelson, Bruce A. Gates, Robert J. Leonard, Richard Meltzer, and
Mark Weinberger. The firm would go onto provide legislative and
regulatory consulting client of all spheres of life.
And being
made up of people who had extensive experience in government cutting
across political party links, it was only expected that the firm would
do well. And well it did and how. In just four years since its
inception, it had done such great work that it was listed in the top ten
legislative advocacy firms in Washington for the three of the four
years since it was founded.
Merger with EYand Leadership role - June 2000
After
successfully overseeing the merger of the law firm he co-founded with
EY, it was time now for Weinberger to assume a new responsibility at the
global consulting major. The merger gave him a chance to climb up the
ladder of the company which made him its Director of its National Tax
Department, which also required him to serve on the firm's committee of
senior tax partners and will be among the strategic leaders of its tax
practice.
One more stint in a US government position
President
George W. Bush appointed him as the Assistant Secretary of the United
States Department of the Treasury (Tax Policy) – it was yet another
example of his quality rising above party lines. If it was a Democrat
who had sought his services earlier, now it was a republican who wanted
him to handle a very crucial part of his government’s policy.
And,
as in the case of President Clinton, Weinberger did not disappoint
President George W Bush either. Through his tenure at the Treasury, he
was instrumental in the passage of the Taxpayers Relief Act, which
resulted in the largest individual tax cut in decades, establishing a
world-class management team in the Treasury's Office of Tax Policy, and
improving Treasury guidance projects that helped reduce controversies
and simplified taxpayer compliance
Finally to – EY again!
In
2008, it was back the basics again for Weinberger when he joined EY yet
again. This time round it was, as before, at a higher position as its
Global Tax Leader (Vice-Chair) and went on to serve in that position
until to 2012.
Then, in January 2013, he was elevated to the post
of Chief Executive Officer (Bermuda) in which position he served until
July 2013. This was a precursor to the ultimate role which he assumed in
the same month as the Global Chairman and CEO of one of the largest
professional services organizations in the world, with 230,000 people in
more than 150 countries.
In September 2015, the Cornell
University honored him with the ‘Robert S. Hatfield Fellowship in
Economic Education Award’, the highest honor Cornell can bestow on
someone from the private sector.Not only that, his leadership, vision,
and qualities in the field of economics are well recognized,
acknowledged, and put to effective use across the globe by many
institutions as manifested in the multitude of associations he has as
below:
Other associations
|
| On the Board of Directors for The Tax Council |
| On the Board of Directors for The American Council for Capital Formation |
| Member of the World Economic Forum’s International Business Council |
| World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Trustee for Economic Growth and Social Inclusion. |
| Co-chairs the Russia Foreign Investment Advisory Council with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev |
| Vice Chair of the International Business Leaders Advisory Council (IBLAC) to the Mayor of Shanghai |
| Executive Committee member of the Washington, D.C.-based Business Roundtable, and chairs its Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee. |
| Member of the International Advisory Board of British-American Business |
| Member of the International Integrated Reporting Council |
| On the Board of Advisors for the American Council for Capital Formation |
| On the Board of Directors for Catalyst |
| On the boardof the Tax Council |
| On the boardof the Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland |
| Member of the Board of Trustees for Emory University |
| Member of the Board of Trustees for Case Western Reserve University |
| Representative to the International Business Leaders Advisory Council (IBLAC) |
Family& Residence:
|
| He lives in Potomac with his wife, Nancy, and their four children, Rachel, Noah, Sean and Ben. |
Awards
|
| The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Achievement Award 2012 |
| Pillar of Excellence Award, Tax Council Policy Institute. |
| Honored with the ‘Robert S. Hatfield Fellowship in Economic Education Award’ Cornell University, 2015. |
| Honorary doctorate from the Kogod School of Business at American University in Washington, D.C. |
Quotes |
| "Ernst
& Young's experience and extensive resources in international
business practices, complex transactional work, e-Commerce financial
services, and other areas will provide a worldwide council of experts
for our clients that would take years to build independently.”
Weinberger on the merger with EY. |
| "Afterwards
I got hundreds of emails: Not a single person remembered the terrific
speech I gave, but everybody remembered I went home for my daughter.” –
Post the brief remarks he made right upon assuming the role of CEO
(in China) where he insisted he had to go back home to be around his
daughters drivers’ test. |
| “It
brought home to me how powerful leading by example is. You can have
all the initiatives you want saying you can have flexibility, but until
some of the real leaders make the choice to choose family, I don’t
think people feel like they have real permission to do it.”On the
response from people to him opting to go home for some family time
instead of taking a selfie (with employees) at the Great Wall of China. |