Accenture chief executive Pierre Nanterme steps down for health reasons

Accenture chairman and chief executive Pierre Nanterme has stepped down, citing health reasons.

The company's chief financial officer David Rowland will become interim chief executive officer and independent director Marge Magner has been appointed as the company’s non-executive chair of the board. Finance operations leader KC McClure will take on the chief financial officer role. 

Nanterme, who has worked for the professional services and management consultancy firm for 36 years, will continue as advisor to his replacement.

Nanterme said: “It has been my honour and privilege to serve Accenture’s people and our clients for my entire 36-year career, and I’ve never been more confident in our business strategy, leadership team and people.

“I know that David’s significant involvement in developing and delivering our growth strategy to rotate our business to new, high-growth areas of digital, cloud and security — and his tenure as a highly respected senior leader and developer of talent — will make this transition seamless.

“This is the right decision for my family and me, so I can focus on my health.”

Rowland, who joined the company 35 years ago and took on the finance chief role in 2013, said: “I look forward to working closely with our talented, best-in-class leadership team, including KC as our new CFO, to continue building on the strong momentum in our business and strengthening our market leadership.

469,000 Accenture people around the world, I want to thank Pierre for his inspirational leadership and stewardship of our company. He has clearly left Accenture better positioned for generations to come."