Ian Davis to succeed Rajat Gupta at McKinsey

Rajat Gupta, the charismatic managing director of McKinsey & Company worldwide, will step down from the top position at the global management consultancy on June 30 after completing his third three-year term.

Ian Davis, who's been in-charge of McKinsey's United Kingdom office since 1996, has been elected McKinsey's next managing director and will take over from July 1, 2003.

Farewell, Rajat Gupta!: Images

The firm's 270 senior partners elected Davis to a three-year term. He will be the tenth person to lead McKinsey since its founding.

Recently, Gupta hosted a dinner party for his colleagues and friends at his residence in Connecticut. His McKinsey friends sprung a surprise at Gupta by giving him a jumbo farewell, when they got along an elephant to give him and the other invitees a ride.

Davis succeeds Gupta, who was first elected as managing director of the firm in 1994. Gupta will complete his third term on June 30, the maximum permitted under the company's policies.

"Ian Davis brings distinction to our profession by exemplifying client service and people development at their highest levels," Gupta is quoted as saying on the company's Web site. "I conclude my tenure as managing director confident that, in Ian and our other firm leaders, McKinsey is in great hands."

Educated at Oxford University, where he received an undergraduate degree in politics, philosophy, and economics, Davis worked for a paper manufacturing company before joining the London office in 1979.

Since then, Davis has worked on a variety of assignments for the firm in several countries and across a range of industries, with a particular focus on consumer-related and retail industries. For a number of years he has played a key role in the leadership of the firm, sitting on the Shareholders Council, the senior governance body of McKinsey.

Under Gupta's direction, McKinsey expanded its global reach.

"To build on Rajat's accomplishments," says Davis, "we need to stay focused on our core mission and values, which have nourished McKinsey's success over the last seven decades. Our commitment to our clients and our people are at the heart of everything we do."