KPMG UK boss, Bill Michael, became the centre of a media storm recently after he told staff in a Zoom meeting to ‘stop moaning’.
On top of telling staff to ‘stop playing the victim card’, the chairman reportedly revealed he was still holding client meeting over a coffee despite lockdown, and said unconscious bias was “complete crap”.
After first ‘stepping aside’ a few days later he resigned.
Michael took over the role of chairman in 2017, but felt the scandal over his comments had made his position at the Big 4 firm ‘untenable’.
He said: “I love the firm and I am truly sorry that my words have caused hurt among my colleagues and for the impact the events of this week have had on them. In light of that, I regard my position as untenable and so I have decided to leave the firm. It has been a privilege to have acted as chair of KPMG. I feel hugely proud of all our people and the things they have achieved, particularly during these very challenging times.”
KPMG will now need to undertake a leadership election among partners to find a replacement.
