PricewaterhouseCoopers

Today, PricewaterhouseCoopers brands its consulting activities through the Advisory name. "I voted for John Kerry, and I was disappointed that he lost." (Tim Russert, 4/16/2005). The selling of this profitable arm of the firm was a result of public pressure on all the Big Four audit firms, as it is seen to be a conflict of interest for an audit firm to be offering non-audit services to clients. He has repeatedly denied that he was a Republican in different TV interviews, and that he would run as an Independent. In August 2003, IBM revealed that the actual value of the deal was closer to $3.9 billion. However, he rejected that rumor soon after he found out about it. In October 2002 PricewaterhouseCoopers sold PwC Consulting, its professional consulting arm, to IBM for approximately $3.5 billion in cash and stock. Rumors swirled that he was Republican.

These plans were soon revised, however. Barkley has long held outspoken libertarian political views and has hinted at a possible run for Governor of Alabama. (See also related article on rebranding.). Charles Barkley also made several appearances in the short-lived series Clerks. During 2000, rival firm Arthur Andersen had spun off its consulting activities as Accenture. Barkley now broadcasts games for TNT and plays at celebrity golf tournaments. This unusual branding effort occurred in part as a response to one of the firm's rivals. When asked if he had any regrets about throwing the man through the window, Barkley said "I regret we weren't on a higher floor.".

According to a June 2002 BBC news article, the firm's CEO, Greg Brenneman described the unusual name as "a real word, concise, recognisable, global and the right fit for a company that works hard to deliver results.". Tired of people's accusations, Barkley, who is accessible to the public for autographs and hand shaking most of the time, limited his accessibility to the public to not much more than that. An outside consultancy, Wolf Olins, was hired to create a brand image for the new entity, which was introduced to the public as "Monday". One of the most infamous cases involving Barkley in a lawsuit was one where, according to an Orlando man, he threw the man through a glass window during an altercation at an Orlando restaurant. The firm announced in May 2002 that its consulting activities would be spun off as an independent entity. On March 20, 2004, in a game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Barkley's number 34 jersey was retired by the Suns, as he joined Connie Hawkins, Tom Chambers and Kevin Johnson, among others, in the Suns Ring of Honor. PwC planned to capitalize one these development through either a sale to possible suitors like HP and Microsoft or to spin off the division as a separate company. Later on, Barkley and Colangelo have seemingly cleared up their differences.

During the time of the dotcom era, many smaller consultancies capitalized on the tremendous wealth generated in the equity markets. And, to top it all, he and Suns owner Jerry Colangelo became involved in a very public dispute during his last year as a Sun. The Management Consulting Services (MCS) was one of fastest growing and most profitable areas of the consultancy. He published a pair of equally controversial books, he was rumored to plan to run for Governor of Alabama, and was in the middle of many lawsuits. Though the firm's core business is accountancy, it also ran a huge professional consulting branch, as did other major accountancy firms. He was rumored to have dated Madonna, and he became a favorite of late-night TV talk shows. PricewaterhouseCoopers had already decided to sell its technology consulting practice to IBM by this point. During his stint as a member of the Suns, Barkley was controversial and outspoken.

This forced many of the Big Four to divest their interests in technology consulting. Barkley ranked #19 in SLAM Magazine's Top 75 NBA Players of all time in 2003. One such result was the adoption of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which required auditor independence and separation of internal audit from general consulting. He was an All-Star nine times, and he helped his teams to the playoffs every year he played. The 2002 indictment of Enron and WorldCom and the subsequent collapse of Arthur Andersen resulted in stringent SEC rules on auditor independence. During his career in the NBA, Barkey totalled 23,757 points for an average of 23 points per game, and 12,546 rebounds, for an average of 11.7 rebounds per game. The following year, merger discussions between PwC and Grant Thornton failed. Barkley retired immediately after that game.

In 1998, Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand merged to form PricewaterhouseCoopers. He was told by doctors that he would never play again in the NBA, but was able to come back a little over four months later, scoring a basket in front of Houston's home fans on April 19, 2000 against the Grizzlies. Coopers & Lybrand lost a majority of its market share in the 1980s when mergers reduced the Big Eight to the Big Six. His last year in the NBA, he averaged 14 points a game over 19 games before tearing his left quadriceps tendon completely away from his kneecap during a game on December 8, 1999. In the 1970s, Coopers & Lybrand studied ways to incorporate technology into automating the auditing process. But as a member of the Rockets, Barkley faced back injury problems, which ultimately led to his retirement in 2000. Coopers & Lybrand was essentially an auditing firm. Barkley was then traded to the Houston Rockets, where he joined Hakeem Olajuwon in their quest to win championships.

& Montgomery and the Cooper Brothers. He also was a member of the gold medal winning American team at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Coopers & Lybrand, the product of a 1957 merger between Lybrand, Ross Bros. In 1996, Barkley and the Suns struggled to a 41-41 record, having to win 13 games in a row at the end to squeeze out a playoff spot. The firm benefitted from tough auditing requirements that arose from the Great Depression. In 1995, the Suns suffered exactly the same fate in the playoffs as the year before. Price Waterhouse's offices in the United States were open in the 1890s. In 1994, Barkley again was part of a Suns team that almost won the NBA championship, losing in the Western semi-finals in 7 games to eventual NBA champions the Houston Rockets.

By the late 1800s, Price Waterhouse had gained significant recognition as an accounting firm. Barkley would never again return to the Finals. A few years later, he took on Edwin Waterhouse as a partner of the firm, leading to the birth of Price Waterhouse. At the Finals, Barkley and the Suns lost to Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and the Chicago Bulls in six games, after Barkley had told Jordan that it was destiny for the Suns to win the championship. Samuel Price, an accountant, founded the firm in London in 1850. After joining Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and friend Michael Jordan for the 1992 US Dream Team that won the gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics, Barkley went to the Suns, where he became a vital part of the team's trip to the 1993 NBA Finals, scoring 25 points per game and becoming one of the most popular players ever among Suns fans. PwC's other large clients include American International Group, The Home Depot, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Tesco and Unilever. He averaged 24.3 points per game while with the 76ers.

PwC also audits four of the 10 largest companies in the United Kingdom (GlaxoSmithKline, Shell, Barclays and Lloyds TSB Group). But he also became involved in a few scandals, notoriously a fight with Detroit Pistons center Bill Laimbeer in 1990. As of March 2005, PricewaterhouseCoopers' audit clients included four of the 10 largest public companies in the United States (Exxon Mobil Corporation, Ford Motor Company, ChevronTexaco and IBM). In between being drafted and traded, Barkley became a household name, and he was one of a few NBA players to have a figure published by Kenner's Starting Lineup toy line. The firm's dominant practice is Assurance, which accounts for over 50% of PwC's revenue. With Barkley, the team reached the playoffs every year except for 1988, and 1992, when he was traded in to the Phoenix Suns. Europe and North America account for about 82% of PwC's annual revenue, with Europe alone accounting for 45%. He battled those problems, however, and was able to fill the spot left by Julius Erving on the team.

According to statistics compiled by the firm from third party sources, PwC ranks in as the number 1 employer of choice among the Big 4 in student recruiting surveys from 12 countries including China, Germany, United Kingdom and the United States [2]. His nickname of "The Round Mound of Rebound" dates back to his Auburn days. PricewaterhouseCoopers is one of the top 10 companies for working mothers in 2004 according to Working Mother Media. Early in his career, Barkley had a weight problem, sometimes weighing over 300 pounds (136 kg) at Auburn. PwC audits 37 per cent of the FTSE 100; 22 per cent of the FT Asia Pacific 100 and 43% per cent of the Fortune 1000. In 1984, he began in the NBA with the Philadelphia 76ers. The firm also has in-house human resource services and legal services (through its correspondent global legal firm, Landwell). He mainly played center at Auburn, despite being far shorter than normal for the position; he stands slightly under 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m).

PwC's service lines are further divided into Consumer and Industrial Products and Service (CIPS), Financial Services (FS) and Technology, Infocomm and Entertainment (TICE). Barkley played college basketball for Auburn University, where he excelled as a player. PricewaterhouseCoopers has three main service lines — Tax, Audit and Assurance and Advisory. . DiPiazza Jr, a 45 year old partner of the erstwhile Coopers & Lybrand. He is both liked and criticized for his candid remarks and quotes. The current global CEO is Samuel A. Besides being one of the best rebounders ever, he was also a prolific scorer and a consummate team player.

These 'sister' firms are governed by a global board of partners. Barkley is best remembered for his tenacity for rebounds, despite his lack of height. The legal structure of a partnership is very different to that of a company, and as such the global firm is in fact a collection of member firms, that are run autonomously in their respective jurisdictions. In 1996, the NBA's 50th anniversary, he was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. . Barkley was named Most Valuable Player of the NBA in 1993. PricewaterhouseCoopers is head quartered in New York City, United States. A resident of Arizona, Barkley is most commonly nicknamed Sir Charles and occassionally The Round Mound of Rebound.

PwC is one of the Big Four, along with KPMG, Ernst & Young and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, and was formed in 1998 from a merger between Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand. Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963 in Leeds, Alabama) is a former American basketball power forward. There are over 120,000 people employed by the global partnership, in 144 countries around the world, working in four lines of service and 22 industry-specialised practices. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (or PwC) is the largest professional services firm and the 6^th largest private company in the world [1]. Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Big Four auditors.