Veteran Charlotte CPA Mike McGuire is stepping down on Aug. 1 as CEO of Chicago-based Grant Thornton LLP, the U.S. member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd. He will become CEO emeritus and “serve as a “brand ambassador for the firm, focusing on business development and supporting key client relationships,” according to press release from the Chicago-based accounting firm.
“It has been the honor of my life to lead Grant Thornton over the past five years, and I am so proud of all we’ve accomplished as a team,” says McGuire, who has split his time between Chicago and Charlotte for the last decade. “As fast as the marketplace is changing, I believe we now need to transition as quickly as possible to new leadership that can take us on the next leg of our journey to become the ‘firm of the future’ over the next five years or more.”
During McGuire’s years as CEO, Grant Thornton LLP has achieved record-setting revenue that totaled $1.8 billion last year, according to the company statement. “Mike McGuire has taken our firm from the ‘now’ to the ‘next’ and on to the ‘new,’ and we thank him for his vision and leadership,” the firm’s partnership board said in the release.
Bradley Preber will serve as interim CEO-elect effective immediately and become interim CEO on Aug. 1. He is chairman of the partnership board and managing partner of the Phoenix office.
McGuire has been an active civic leader in Charlotte for more than three decades. He worked for Arthur Andersen & Co. before moving to Grant Thornton. He became national managing partner of operations in 2013, then CEO two years later.