Grant Thornton LLP is the American member firm of Grant Thornton International, the seventh largest accounting network in the world by combined fee income. Grant Thornton LLP is the sixth largest U.S. accounting and advisory organization. The firm operates 59 offices across the US with approximately 8,500 employees, 550 partners, and produces annual revenue in excess of US$1.9 billion. During the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine, The Times reported that Grant Thornton is in line to earn millions of pounds for acting as trustees in a bankruptcy case on behalf of the Russian state-owned DIA, who bypassed sanction regimes to obtain funds and assets from abroad in order to fund the war in Ukraine. History Early history In 1924, Alexander Richardson Grant, a 26 year old senior accountant with Ernst & Ernst (later Ernst & Young) decided to leave the firm and start his own business with William O’Brien. Alexander Grant & Co. was built in Chicago and it provided services as a middle market firm. The firm was growing rapidly and nationally under the guidance of several new leaders during the next three decades. In 1961, the company established its national office in Chicago and earned net revenue of more than $5 million. During this time, a competitive firm that was also committed to providing services to middle market established in Europe, and this firm later became known as Binder Dijker Otte & Co. (BDO). During the mid-1960s, the firm decided to expand its business internationally. In 1969, Alexander Grant & Co. merged with companies from Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom to form an organization called Alexander Grant Tansley Witt. By 1980, Alexander Grant & Co. had joined with 49 international accounting firms, including a UK firm named Thornton Baker, and formed a professional global network, Grant Thornton International. In 1985, Alexander Grant & Co. merged with Fox & Co. and became the ninth largest accounting firm in the United States, just behind the nation's "Big Eight" firms. At that time, the company had 80 offices and more than 3,000 employees. In 1986, Alexander Grant & Co. changed its name to Grant Thornton, resulted from its affiliation with the United Kingdom firm Thornton Baker, which also changed its name to Grant Thornton. Recent history In 2002, Grant Thornton acquired 7 offices, 43 partners and 396 employees from ex-Arthur Andersen. In June 2014, Grant Thornton announced J. Michael McGuire