That’s the number of companies in the S&P 500 that have used the same Big 4 firm to audit their financial statements for at least the past 100 years, according to a recent Bloomberg analysis.
We won’t steal Bloomberg’s thunder by listing those eight cozy relationships. If you want to see who has been in bed together the longest, you can click here.
But it’s worth noting that of those eight engagements, Deloitte is the auditor in three of them, including the longest active relationship with Procter & Gamble at 130 years. PwC and EY each have two, while KPMG has one.
However, that one longtime KPMG engagement will end soon, as General Electric dropped the House of Klynveld after 111 years and will Big 4-hop to Deloitte starting in 2021.
As Bloomberg notes, Coca-Cola Co. could join the list next year if it keeps EY, which started working with the beverage giant in 1921.
Our friend Francine McKenna wrote an excellent article recently about how EY has also provided tax avoidance strategy consulting services to Coca-Cola for many years.
Judge smacks down Ernst & Young's aggressive tax strategies for audit client Coca-Cola | It's not about the money, I don't think. It's about the closeness. https://t.co/8Sx0CokVmt
— Francine McKenna (@retheauditors) November 20, 2020
J&J Joins Century Club in the S&P 500 With Longstanding Auditors [Bloomberg]
Judge smacks down Ernst & Young’s aggressive tax strategies for audit client Coca-Cola [The Dig]
Related articles:
Auditor Swap: General Electric and KPMG Officially Call It Quits
By the Numbers: $2.06 Billion
