Kevin Sneader Explained

Kevin Sneader
Birth Date:May 5, 1966
Birth Place:Canada
Nationality:Canadian
British
Education:University of Glasgow (LLB)[1]
Harvard University (MBA)[2]
Employer:McKinsey & Company
Occupation:Management consultant
Senior Partner and Global Managing Director
Term:July 2018 – July 2021
Predecessor:Dominic Barton
Successor:Bob Sternfels
Spouse:Amy Muntner[3]
Children:2
Parents:Walter Sneader[4]
Myrna Sneader[5]

Kevin Sneader (born c. 1966) is a Canadian-born British management consultant. He was McKinsey & Company's global managing partner from July 2018 to July 2021.[6] He failed to secure a second term in that position in early 2021, becoming the first global managing partner since 1976 not to win such an election.[7] He was hired by Goldman Sachs as co-president for the Asia-Pacific region in September 2021.[8]

Early life and education

Kevin Sneader was born 1966 in Canada and grew up in Glasgow, Scotland.[9] His father, Walter Sneader, was a chemistry professor at the University of Strathclyde; his mother, Myrna, was a teacher in a Jewish nursery school. He is Jewish.[10]

Sneader attended Hutchesons' Grammar School in Glasgow and went on to graduate from the University of Glasgow, where he earned a Bachelor of Laws.[1] He earned a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School,[11] where he was a Baker Scholar.[1]

Career

Sneader joined McKinsey and Company upon graduating from the University of Glasgow.[12] He was the managing partner of McKinsey's UK and Ireland division until 2014, when he became the chairman of its Asia-Pacific division.[2] In February 2018, he was appointed as McKinsey's global managing partner to succeed Dominic Barton in July.[2] [13] [14] Kevin Sneader was McKinsey’s first Scottish, and its first Jewish, leader.[15]

Personal life

Sneader is married to Amy Muntner.[3] Sneader lives in Hong Kong with his wife, Amy, and their two daughters.[15]

Controversy

In 2019, McKinsey & Company received criticism for its role as consultant to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. In a 2019 email to the firm, Sneader indicated that McKinsey had never focused on developing, advising or implementing immigration policies. McKinsey, he wrote, “will not, under any circumstances, engage in work, anywhere in the world, that advances or assists policies that are at odds with our values.” A subsequent New York Times investigation claimed that McKinsey's involvement in deportations had been more extensive than Sneader acknowledged in his email.[16]

Sneader was also in charge in McKinsey during controversies around their work with Saudi Arabia and Russia, the former after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Similarly damaging were revelations of their work with Purdue Pharma while also working for the FDA during the opioid crisis. McKinsey paid $619m to settle claims brought by 50 US states, five territories and the District of Columbia over its opioid work. [17]

Notes and References

  1. News: Jones. Stephen. Who is McKinsey's new global managing partner Kevin Sneader?. 26 February 2018. Management Today. 26 January 2018.
  2. News: Marriage. Madison. McKinsey names Kevin Sneader new global managing partner. 25 February 2018. Financial Times. 25 February 2018.
  3. News: WEDDINGS; Amy L. Muntner, Kevin D. Sneader. 26 February 2018. The New York Times. October 22, 1995.
  4. News: WEDDINGS; Amy L. Muntner, Kevin D. Sneader. 26 February 2018. The New York Times. October 22, 1995.
  5. News: WEDDINGS; Amy L. Muntner, Kevin D. Sneader. 26 February 2018. The New York Times. October 22, 1995.
  6. Web site: 2021-06-30. Four McKinsey & Company partners relocate to Paris office. 2021-06-30. www.consultancy.eu. en.
  7. News: Forsythe . Michael . Head of McKinsey Is Voted Out as Firm Faces Reckoning on Opioid Crisis . The New York Times . 24 February 2021.
  8. News: Franklin. Joshua. Edgecliffe-Johnson. Andrew. September 8, 2021. Goldman hires ousted McKinsey boss Kevin Sneader for top Asia role. Financial Times. September 8, 2021.
  9. News: Jones. Stephen. Who is McKinsey's new global managing partner Kevin Sneader?. 26 February 2018. Management Today. 26 January 2018.
  10. News: WEDDINGS; Amy L. Muntner, Kevin D. Sneader. 26 February 2018. The New York Times. October 22, 1995.
  11. News: Marriage. Madison. McKinsey names Kevin Sneader new global managing partner. 25 February 2018. Financial Times. 25 February 2018.
  12. Web site: Meet our next global managing partner: Kevin Sneader. McKinsey & Company. 26 February 2018.
  13. News: Fuhrmans. Vanessa. McKinsey & Co. Names Kevin Sneader New Global Managing Partner. 25 February 2018. The Wall Street Journal. 25 February 2018.
  14. News: MOVES-McKinsey elects Asia boss Sneader as new global managing partner. 25 February 2018. Reuters. 25 February 2018.
  15. Web site: McKinsey’s Kevin Sneader on rebooting the consultancy . . 2018-06-24 . 2020-06-23.
  16. News: How McKinsey Helped the Trump Administration Carry Out Its Immigration Policies. MacDougall. Ian. 2019-12-03. The New York Times. 2019-12-04. en-US. 0362-4331.
  17. News: Goldman hires ousted McKinsey boss Kevin Sneader for top Asia role. The Financial Times. 2023-10-25. en-US.