PwC
Professional services
UnclaimedA global network of independent professional-services firms providing assurance, advisory, tax, legal, and transaction services.
Last updated October 7, 2026
Overview
PwC, formerly known as PricewaterhouseCoopers, is a multinational professional-services network headquartered in London. It is one of the Big Four accounting networks, alongside Deloitte, EY, and KPMG. PwC member firms provide audit and assurance, consulting and other advisory work, tax and legal services, deals, transaction support, risk management, technology implementation, and related specialist services to corporations, governments, financial institutions, and other organizations. The modern network was created in 1998 through the merger of Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand, two accounting organizations whose predecessor practices developed during the nineteenth century. Price Waterhouse traced its origins to Samuel Lowell Price's London practice, founded in 1849, while the Coopers lineage began with William Cooper's London firm in 1854. Their international expansion produced networks of locally organized partnerships rather than a single globally integrated corporation. PwC's legal structure reflects the regulatory requirements of the professional-services sector. The PwC network is coordinated by PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited, an English private company limited by guarantee. Individual member firms are separate legal entities and are responsible for their own operations, liabilities, personnel, and regulatory relationships. Consequently, references to PwC may mean the international coordinating entity, the network as a whole, or a particular national member firm. The network's principal service lines are Assurance, Advisory, and Tax and Legal. Assurance includes financial-statement auditing, controls work, reporting, risk, and related forms of trust and verification. Advisory covers management and strategy consulting, deals, technology, actuarial work, cybersecurity, transformation, operations, human resources, and specialist industry services. Tax and Legal includes corporate and international tax, tax reporting, transfer pricing, legal support in jurisdictions where permitted, and transaction-related tax advice. After the 1998 merger, PwC expanded and reshaped its consulting business. Its former consulting arm was sold to IBM in 2002 after a proposed separation and public offering did not proceed; the business was marketed as Monday immediately before the transaction. PwC later rebuilt its advisory capabilities through acquisitions and combinations, including the creation of Strategy& with Booz & Company in 2014. It also developed technology, digital, analytics, and managed-service capabilities through further acquisitions and alliances. The brand shortened its trading name to PwC in 2010. The abbreviated name was intended to create a simpler, more internationally usable identity while retaining recognition from the legacy firms. In 2025, the network introduced a redesigned visual identity featuring an orange momentum mark. PwC has also invested in artificial-intelligence services and announced a broad relationship with OpenAI in 2024, including enterprise use and plans to resell the service to other large businesses. PwC is a prominent auditor and adviser to public companies, private businesses, public-sector bodies, and cultural organizations. It has counted the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences among its long-standing clients for vote tabulation and financial and tax-related services. At the same time, the network has faced recurring criticism and regulatory action over audit quality, tax arrangements, conflicts of interest, employment discrimination, and work connected with sanctioned or politically exposed clients. These controversies illustrate the central tension in the professional-services model: firms are expected to provide commercially valuable advice while preserving independence, professional skepticism, confidentiality, and public trust.
History
PwC's history combines two nineteenth-century British accounting lineages. Samuel Lowell Price established an accountancy practice in London in 1849. After partnerships involving William Hopkins Holyland and Edwin Waterhouse, the practice became Price, Waterhouse & Co. in the 1870s. Price Waterhouse expanded internationally through a federation of separately organized national firms, including a New York office opened in 1890 and later offices across the United Kingdom and other markets. The other lineage began in 1854, when William Cooper founded a London practice. His brothers joined seven years later, producing Cooper Brothers. In the United States, Robert H. Montgomery, William M. Lybrand, Adam A. Ross Jr., and T. Edward Ross established Lybrand, Ross Brothers and Montgomery in 1898. Cooper Brothers, the Lybrand organization, and a Canadian practice agreed in 1957 to use the Coopers & Lybrand name internationally. The three principal firms in the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada adopted that name in 1973. Coopers & Lybrand later strengthened its insolvency practice through the acquisition of Cork Gully and briefly combined with Deloitte, Haskins & Sells in selected countries before returning to the Coopers & Lybrand name. Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand merged in 1998 to form PricewaterhouseCoopers. The merger created a major global accounting and consulting network at a time when professional-services firms were expanding beyond traditional audit work. In the aftermath of the Enron, WorldCom, and related accounting scandals, Arthur Andersen collapsed and the sector became known as the Big Four rather than the Big Five. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 also imposed significant restrictions on the relationship between audit firms and consulting services. PwC subsequently separated and sold its consulting business. The unit was prepared for a possible initial public offering, rebranded as Monday, and sold to IBM in 2002 for cash and stock. PwC rebuilt its advisory presence through acquisitions including Paragon Consulting Group, BearingPoint's commercial-services business, Diamond Management & Technology Consultants, PRTM, Logan Tod, Ant's Eye View, BGT Partners, and NSI DMCC. In 2014, Booz & Company joined PwC and became Strategy&. The network continued to diversify into managed services, digital work, technology, analytics, and public-sector consulting. Its US public-sector business was sold to Veritas Capital in 2018 and became Guidehouse. PwC also developed prominent technology partnerships, including a 2024 enterprise relationship with OpenAI. In 2010, the firm adopted PwC as its shorter trading name, and in 2025 it introduced a new visual identity centered on an orange momentum mark. Throughout its history, PwC and its predecessor firms have been subject to scrutiny over audit failures, tax planning, independence, employment practices, and work for controversial clients. The network's decentralized legal structure means that investigations and sanctions often concern a particular national member firm rather than every PwC entity worldwide.
- 2025
New visual identity introduced
[1]PwC introduced a redesigned identity featuring an orange momentum mark.
- 2024
OpenAI enterprise relationship announced
[1]PwC announced broad use and planned resale of OpenAI enterprise services.
- 2018
Guidehouse is formed from PwC's US public-sector business
[1]Veritas Capital acquired the business and launched it as Guidehouse.
- 2014
Strategy& is created
[1]Booz & Company combined with PwC and became Strategy&.
- 2010
PwC becomes the shortened trading name
[1]The network introduced PwC as its shorter public-facing name.
- 2002
Consulting business sold to IBM
[1]PwC sold its consulting arm, then branded Monday, to IBM.
- 1998
Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand merge
[1]The two accounting networks combined to create PricewaterhouseCoopers.
- 1957
Coopers & Lybrand name adopted internationally
[1]Cooper Brothers, Lybrand, Ross Brothers and Montgomery, and a Canadian firm agreed to use the Coopers & Lybrand name.
- 1890
Price Waterhouse opens in New York
[1]Price Waterhouse expanded its international presence with a New York office.
- 1854
Cooper lineage begins
[1]William Cooper established the London practice that developed into Cooper Brothers and later Coopers & Lybrand.
Showing the 10 most recent.
Products and positioning
A global Big Four professional-services network positioned around trust, assurance, business transformation, tax expertise, and advice on complex transactions and regulatory issues.
Audit and assurance
Assurance
PwC's Assurance practice covers financial-statement audits, internal controls, reporting, risk, compliance, and related services intended to improve confidence in corporate information and processes. Engagements are delivered by legally separate national member firms under local professional and regulatory rules.
Consulting and transactions
Advisory
Advisory includes strategy, management consulting, deals, transaction support, technology transformation, cybersecurity, operations, actuarial services, human-resources advice, and digital capabilities. Strategy& serves as PwC's strategy-consulting brand following the 2014 combination with Booz & Company.
Tax and legal services
Tax and Legal
PwC member firms provide corporate, international, indirect, employment, transaction, and compliance-related tax services, together with legal services in jurisdictions where the relevant member firm is authorized to provide them.
Strategy consulting · 2014
Strategy&
Strategy& is PwC's strategy-consulting business, created when Booz & Company combined with PwC in 2014. It advises organizations on corporate strategy, operating models, transformation, growth, and sector-specific strategic questions.
Controversies
2014
Caterpillar tax arrangement
A US Senate investigation examined PwC's role in developing a tax structure for Caterpillar that allegedly moved profits to Switzerland and substantially lowered the company's US taxes.
1989
Price Waterhouse gender-discrimination litigation
The US Supreme Court held that gender stereotyping could constitute sex discrimination in the partnership-promotion case brought by Ann Hopkins. The litigation became an important precedent concerning mixed-motive employment decisions.
Audit-quality and independence controversies
PwC and predecessor firms have repeatedly faced criticism, litigation, and regulatory sanctions concerning alleged audit failures, conflicts of interest, tax planning, and work for controversial clients. The specific findings and responsible entities vary by country and engagement.
Marketing campaigns
- 2025Momentum mark brand refresh
Global
PwC introduced a simplified visual identity with an orange momentum mark, emphasizing a compact format suited to digital environments.
Outcome. A new global visual identity was introduced.
- 2010PwC rebranding
Global
PwC replaced the longer PricewaterhouseCoopers trading name with a shorter identity designed for international consistency and easier digital use.
Outcome. The shortened PwC name became the network's principal public-facing brand.
Brand decisions
2024
Expand enterprise generative-AI servicesProduct launchBackground
Professional-services firms were rapidly incorporating generative artificial intelligence into internal operations and client offerings.
Action taken
PwC announced a major ChatGPT Enterprise relationship and plans to resell OpenAI services to other large businesses.
Aftermath
The announcement positioned PwC as a large-scale enterprise user and distributor of generative-AI services.
2014
Combine with Booz & CompanyM&ABackground
PwC sought to expand its high-end strategy and management-consulting capabilities after the earlier sale of its consulting arm.
Action taken
Booz & Company joined PwC and was rebranded Strategy&.
Aftermath
Strategy& became PwC's dedicated strategy-consulting brand.
2002
Sell consulting arm to IBMM&ABackground
Post-scandal regulation and the separation of audit and consulting created pressure to restructure the combined professional-services model.
Action taken
PwC sold its consulting business, marketed as Monday, to IBM for cash and stock.
Aftermath
IBM incorporated the business into its consulting operations, while PwC later rebuilt advisory capabilities through acquisitions and alliances.
Reported transaction value. Approximately US$3.5 billion in cash and stock (2002)
1998
Merge Price Waterhouse with Coopers & LybrandM&ABackground
Both networks sought greater international scale and broader professional-services capabilities.
Action taken
The firms combined to create PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Aftermath
The merger established the modern PwC network and strengthened its position among the largest global accounting firms.
Recent events
- 2025
PwC exits operations in nine African countries[1]
Other
PwC shut down its operations in nine African countries, according to the referenced account of the network's recent activities.
- 2025
PwC introduces refreshed global brand identity and launches ‘So You Can’ campaign[4]
Campaign · Other
PwC announced a global refresh of its positioning, logo and visual and verbal identity. The new platform presents PwC as a catalyst for client momentum and was supported by a worldwide advertising rollout.
- 2025
PwC completes withdrawal from operations in nine African countries[1]
Other
PwC’s Wikipedia entry records that the network shut down its operations in nine African countries in April 2025.
- 2025
PwC research reports continued attention to global M&A conditions[5]
Other
Reuters reported PwC commentary on private-equity holdings and M&A conditions, illustrating the firm's continuing role as a source of market and transaction analysis.
- 2024
PwC announces OpenAI enterprise relationship[1]
Product launch
PwC became the largest reported customer of ChatGPT Enterprise and announced plans to resell OpenAI services to other large businesses.
- 2022
PwC acquires ACTS to expand cloud engineering capabilities[6]
M&A · Other
PwC US and PwC Canada acquired substantially all assets of Applications Consulting Training Solutions, adding Microsoft cloud engineering and modernization expertise to PwC's Cloud & Digital practice.
- 2022
PwC Germany participates in Earth Night across its German offices[7]
Campaign · Other
PwC Germany reported that it would switch off non-essential interior and exterior lighting at its German locations and use the activity to raise awareness of light pollution and sustainable behavior.
- 2018
PwC's United States public-sector business becomes Guidehouse[1]
M&A
Veritas Capital acquired PwC's US public-sector consulting business and relaunched it under the Guidehouse name.
- 2017
PwC accepts bitcoin for advisory services[1]
Other · Product launch
PwC announced that it would accept bitcoin as payment for certain advisory services, an unusual move among major accounting networks at the time.
- 2014
PwC and Booz & Company form Strategy&[1]
M&A
Booz & Company combined with PwC, creating Strategy& as PwC's strategy-consulting brand.
Showing the 10 most recent.
Sources10 sources
- 1PwCen.wikipedia.org
- 2PwC official websitepwc.com
- 3美国证券交易委员会就普华永道经纪自营商独立性启动行政程序sec.gov
- 4普华永道推出焕新全球品牌形象并启动“So You Can”宣传活动pwc.com
- 5普华永道研究报告持续关注全球并购状况reuters.com
- 6普华永道收购ACTS以扩展云工程能力pwc.com
- 7普华永道德国在德国各办公室参与地球之夜earth-night.info
- 8普华永道德国扩展公共部门交通与可持续发展咨询agora-verkehrswende.org
- 9OpenAI发布ChatGPT 5.6 Cyber版本tech.ifeng.com
- 10PwC与华为云达成战略合作，加速企业数字化转型itbear.com.cn
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