Gerson Lehrman Group

History

Gerson Lehrman Group was founded by Yale Law School graduates Mark Gerson and Thomas Lehrman in 1998. Alexander Saint-Amand, a former Bloomberg reporter, joined GLG shortly after, and served as President & CEO until 2018.

GLG, initially funded by friends and family, was formed as a publishing house to produce industry guidebooks for institutional investors. However, the founders discovered that their clients wanted to talk directly to experts in casual conversations, rather than reading formal written reports. Accordingly, in 1999, GLG abandoned its publishing business and began offering subscriptions to its network of experts.

GLG's first customers were investors, and most of their growth from 1999 to 2005 was within the investment community. In 2006, they began working with big strategy consultancies and with companies in life sciences, chemicals and industrials, and technology. By 2010, The Wall Street Journal had described GLG as "dominating the U.S. expert networking industry".

The expert network business model has drawn scrutiny for concerns relating to adherence to disclosure rules and insider trading within the investment industry. GLG's policies include prohibitions against consultants sharing any nonpublic information about their employer or any public company, violating any ethical or legal restrictions relevant to consultants, or violating any laws.

In 2018, GLG named Paul Todd as its new CEO. Todd was previously the head of eBay's EMEA business.

GLG operates a Social Impact Fellowship that provides learning resources and expertise to certain nonprofits at no cost.

In October 2021 GLG filed to go public in an IPO, but it withdrew that offering in March 2022.

References

References

1. (5 August 2019). "GLG expert network".
2. (July 25, 2020). "Review: Gigs with consulting firm GLG are sporadic but pay well".
3. GLG's experts include asset managers, investors, consultants, physicians, scientists, engineers, lawyers, senior current and former [[c-level]] executives, and former government members.John Bruton"[http://www.johnbruton.com/2011/03/my-professional-activities.html John Bruton - Professional Activities] {{Webarchive. link. (2013-01-22 "Retrieved April 15, 2012.)
4. link. (2014-08-08 ", Retrieved April 15, 2012.)
5. (July 1, 2015). "Gerson Lehrman Seeks New Image as Investor Cashes Out".
6. (2018-02-28). "Investors Are Paying $1,300 Per Hour for 'Expert' Chats". Bloomberg.com.
7. "GLG's Richard Socarides Believes In The Power Of Learning".
8. (21 December 2015). "Gerson Lehrman Gets New Private-Equity Backer".
9. "Portfolio Companies - Prior Investments".
10. "Portfolio - Gerson Lehrman Group".
11. (December 21, 2015). "SFW Capital Partners Invests Over $200 Million in GLG".
12. "Transforming Professional Learning".
13. "Terms of Service Violation".
14. (December 23, 2001). "Investing; It's Not What They Know, but Whom".
15. (23 March 2010). "Talent holds key to growth in Asia for Gerson Lehrman boss".
16. "Dutton Associates Online Interview".
17. (March 27, 2018). "Gerson Lehrman Recruits New Technology CEO from eBay".
18. (2015-08-03). "Two Minutes with our European Chief Paul Todd".
19. (January 30, 2017). "This Woman's Novel Approach to Poverty Relief is a Game-Changer".
20. (18 October 2021). "Expert Network Firm Gerson Lehrman Files for IPO - Bloomberg".
21. (2022-03-25). "Consulting network Gerson Lehrman Group withdraws $100 million IPO".