Big Six chiefs reach dizzy heights in Davos
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Europe chairman Jacques Manardo and Coopers & Lybrand UK and international chairman Peter Smith played a leading role at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this week when they debated the ‘urge to merge’ among global organisations.
The annual Davos gathering is a combined think tank and social gathering that gives global luminaries the chance to hear speakers like Bill Gates and Newt Gingrich on a range of economic and social issues. The two Big Six leaders were part of a six-strong panel of businessmen for the Monday evening debate. The session focused on the trends driving corporate mergers rather than on the plans of the Big Six themselves, although Deloittes circulated copies of its anti-merger survey of global business leaders (see below right) around many of the resort’s hotels.
As well as Hillary Clinton, visitors to the the World Economic Forum included Andersen Worldwide managing partner Jim Wadia, KPMG international chairman Colin Sharman, Price Waterhouse UK senior partner Ian Brindle, Deloittes chairman and chief executive Ed Kangas and Philip Laskawy, chairman of Ernst & Young International.