Bill Bain (consultant)
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William Worthington Bain Jr. (July 30, 1937 – January 16, 2018) was an American
management consultant Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultants ...
, known for his role as one of the founders of the management consultancy that bears his name,
Bain & Company Bain & Company is an American management consulting company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm provides advice to public, private, and non-profit organizations. One of the Big Three management consultancies, Bain & Company was fou ...
. Prior to founding Bain & Company, he was a vice-president at the
Boston Consulting Group Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) is an American global management consulting firm founded in 1963 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the Big Three (or MBB, the world’s three largest management consulting firms by rev ...
(BCG).


Early life

William Bain was born on July 30, 1937, in
Johnson City, Tennessee Johnson City is a city in Washington, Carter, and Sullivan counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, mostly in Washington County. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 71,046, making it the eighth largest city in Tennessee. John ...
, to William Worthington Bain Sr. and his wife, Ruby Kathleen Bain (born Cloyd). His father was a small food wholesaler who had little formal education and came from a farming family with eleven siblings. He graduated from
Science Hill High School Science Hill High School is a public high school in Johnson City, Tennessee, United States. Campus The Science Hill/ Liberty Bell/ Freedom Hall complex includes multiple athletic fields, large parking lots, and a 1-1/2-mile walking track that enci ...
in 1955. Later, he attended East Tennessee State College, majoring in engineering, for two years before transferring to
Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...
, where he was a member of the
Pi Kappa Alpha Pi Kappa Alpha (), commonly known as PIKE, is a college fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1868. The fraternity has over 225 chapters and colonies across the United States and abroad with over 15,500 undergraduate members over 30 ...
fraternity. He graduated in 1959, earning
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...
honors, with a degree in history. He then got married and became a father. He did graduate work in history at Vanderbilt as a
Woodrow Wilson Scholar The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (or Wilson Center) is a quasi-government entity and think tank which conducts research to inform public policy. Located in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washi ...
in 1960.


Career

Bain briefly worked at a steel fabricating company, where he'd held summer jobs, before returning to Vanderbilt in 1960 to work as the school's director of development at the age of 26. In this capacity, he met
Bruce Henderson Bruce Doolin Henderson (April 30, 1915 – July 20, 1992) was an American businessman and management expert. He founded Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in 1963 in Boston, Massachusetts and headed the firm as the president and CEO until 1980. He c ...
, the founder of the
Boston Consulting Group Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) is an American global management consulting firm founded in 1963 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the Big Three (or MBB, the world’s three largest management consulting firms by rev ...
. After meeting Henderson, Bain agreed to join BCG in 1967 at a starting salary of $17,000 per year. In the early 1970s, Bain was considered internally at
Boston Consulting Group Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) is an American global management consulting firm founded in 1963 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the Big Three (or MBB, the world’s three largest management consulting firms by rev ...
to be Henderson's eventual successor. However, in 1973 Bain resigned from BCG to start his own strategy consulting firm. Bain quickly recruited
Black & Decker Black+Decker Inc. is an American manufacturer of power tools, accessories, hardware, home improvement products, home appliances and fastening systems headquartered in Towson, Maryland, north of Baltimore, Maryland, USA, where the company was o ...
and
Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American technology company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, that designs and manufactures semiconductors and various integrated circuits, which it sells to electronics designers and manufacturers globall ...
, two BCG clients, as his own clients, and hired away seven of BCG's employees. Bain's new company diverged from other consulting firms of the time by focusing on longer assignments. He also sought to develop close relations with the companies, helping not only to devise strategy but also to implement it. He also promised not to represent more than one client per industry, and for many years would only accept assignments that reported to the client's CEO. He formed
Bain Capital Bain Capital is an American private investment firm based in Boston. It specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit, public equity, impact investing, life sciences, and real estate. Bain Capital invests across a range of industry se ...
, a
private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a ty ...
firm, in 1984, and appointed
Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...
, one of the partners at
Bain & Company Bain & Company is an American management consulting company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm provides advice to public, private, and non-profit organizations. One of the Big Three management consultancies, Bain & Company was fou ...
, to be Bain Capital's first CEO. After leaving Bain, he was chairman of the board of Bain Willard Companies, L.P., which he co-founded in 1993 with Ralph R. Willard, President of Bain. He was also a director of
Hinckley Yachts Hinckley Yachts, founded in 1928, manufactures, services and sells luxury sail and powerboats. The company is based in Maine, United States. The company has developed yacht technologies including JetStick and Dual Guard composite material, and was ...
.


Charitable work

Bain was a longtime trustee of several children’s charities in Boston, including Children’s Hospital Boston, The Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston and the
Posse Foundation The Posse Foundation is a national nonprofit organization that partners with select colleges and universities in the United States to provide student scholarships and leadership training. Posse connects a network of more than 10,000 scholars and ...
. He also served on the board of trust of
Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...
. and was a trustee of the Naples Children and Education Foundation in Naples, Florida from 2002 until his death.


Personal life

Bain was married three times and fathered four children. He had been suffering from
Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...
and died aged 80 at his home in Florida in early 2018.


References


Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bain, Bill 1937 births 2018 deaths American chief executives American management consultants Boston Consulting Group people East Tennessee State University alumni People from Johnson City, Tennessee People from Naples, Florida Vanderbilt University alumni Businesspeople from Tennessee American company founders Bain & Company 20th-century American businesspeople