Ian Davis (businessman)

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Sir Ian Davis
Born
Ian Edward Lamert Davis

(1951-03-10) 10 March 1951 (age 74)
Kent, England
Education Balliol College, Oxford (BA, MA)
OccupationBusinessman
Known forChairman and Managing Director of McKinsey & Company (2003–2009)
Chairman of Rolls-Royce Holdings (2013–2021)
Children2
Relatives Crispin Davis (brother)
Nigel Davis (twin brother)
Awards Knight Bachelor (2019)

Sir Ian Edward Lamert Davis Kt (born 10 March 1951) is a British businessman. He served as Chairman and Worldwide Managing Director of McKinsey & Company from 2003 to 2009 and as Chairman of Rolls-Royce Holdings from 2013 to 2021. He currently serves as Chairman of Thoughtworks and holds several non-executive directorships. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Davis was born on 10 March 1951 in Kent, England. [2] He is the twin brother of Sir Nigel Davis, a Court of Appeal judge, and the brother of Crispin Davis, former chairman of Reed Elsevier. [3]

Davis studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Balliol College, University of Oxford, where he earned his undergraduate and master's degrees. [4]

Career

Early career

After graduating from Oxford, Davis worked for seven years at Bowater, a British pulp and paper company, before joining McKinsey & Company in 1979. [2]

McKinsey & Company

Davis spent over 30 years at McKinsey & Company, serving as a consultant to organizations across the private, public, and non-profit sectors. [4] From 1996 to 2003, he was Managing Partner of McKinsey's practice in the United Kingdom and Ireland. [2] During this period, he had oversight responsibility for McKinsey clients and services in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, with particular expertise in the consumer products and retail industries. [4]

In 2003, Davis was elected Chairman and Worldwide Managing Director of McKinsey & Company, succeeding Rajat Gupta on 1 July 2003. [5] He served in this position until 2009, leading the firm's global operations during a period of significant expansion. [6] Davis retired from McKinsey in 2010 and became Senior Partner Emeritus, a role he continues to hold. [2]

Between 2001 and 2003, he took a leave of absence from McKinsey to serve as Senior Research Director for Natural Product Discovery at Diversa Corporation (now part of BASF) in San Diego, California. [7]

Non-executive directorships

Rolls-Royce Holdings

Davis joined the board of Rolls-Royce Holdings as a non-executive director on 1 March 2013 and succeeded Sir Simon Robertson as Chairman on 2 May 2013 at the company's Annual General Meeting. [8] He served as Chairman until October 2021, leading the board during a period of significant challenges including restructuring efforts and the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on the aviation industry. [1]

BP

Davis joined the board of BP as a non-executive director on 2 April 2010. [2] He served as Senior Independent Director (Lead Director) from approximately 2014 to December 2020. [1] In 2017, as Senior Independent Director, Davis led the process to identify and appoint BP's next chairman following Carl-Henric Svanberg's announcement of his retirement. [9]

Johnson & Johnson

In July 2010, Davis was appointed to the board of directors of Johnson & Johnson, where he served as an independent non-executive director until March 2023. [4] [1]

Other positions

Davis has served as Chairman of Thoughtworks since June 2021. [1] He is a non-executive director of Majid Al Futtaim Group and serves as a senior adviser to Apax Partners and Mubadala Investment Company. [1]

Davis served as a non-executive member of the Cabinet Office Board, including as Lead Non-Executive Board Member from 2015 to 2016. [10] He is a non-executive director of Teach For All, a global network of educational organizations. [5]

Other activities

Davis has been involved with various academic and policy organizations. He served as an Advisory Director of King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Centre and was a member of the President's Council at the University of Tokyo. [4] He is a member of the Chancellor's Court at the University of Oxford and has been affiliated with Chatham House as a Senior Adviser. [11]

Honours

Davis was appointed Knight Bachelor in the 2019 Birthday Honours for services to business. [12]

Personal life

Davis married in 1978 and has two children.[ citation needed ]

Selected board positions

Current

Former

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Ian Davis". Thoughtworks. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Ian Davis to join the BP board". BP. 28 February 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  3. ↑ Clayton Hirst (20 January 2002). "The Lowdown: The Might of the McKinsey Mob". The Independent. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Former McKinsey & Company Chairman and Managing Director Ian Davis Appointed to Johnson & Johnson Board of Directors". Johnson & Johnson. 19 July 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Ian Davis". Teach For All. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  6. 1 2 "Sir Ian Davis". Apax Partners. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  7. ↑ "Understanding and manipulating antibiotic production in actinomycetes". Imperial College London. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  8. ↑ "Rolls-Royce appoints Ian Davis as chairman". ADS Advance. 14 February 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  9. ↑ "Ian Davis News". Marine Link. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  10. 1 2 "Ian Davis". GOV.UK. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  11. ↑ "Ian Davis". Chatham House. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
  12. ↑ "No. 62666". The London Gazette. 8 June 2019. p. B2. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
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