CEO Succession Planning: Fortune Favors the Prepared

Biography

Peter Thies is a managing director with Pearl Meyer. Before joining Pearl Meyer, Peter was the co-founder and president of The River Group, a leadership and organization development firm. He has over 30 years of experience helping global companies implement strategic organizational changes. Present and past clients include public company CEOs and executives across numerous industries, including financial services, consumer products, healthcare, retail, industrial, professional services, telecommunications, and the nonprofit sector.

Peter was a senior client partner with Korn Ferry’s Leadership and Talent Consulting division and co-leader of the firm’s CEO succession practice. At Mercer Delta Consulting (now Oliver Wyman), Peter held several leadership positions during his 11-year tenure, including responsibility for consulting practice development, client relationship management, and client satisfaction processes. Peter also worked in Accenture’s change practice for several years.

Peter has published numerous articles in business journals and books on organizational change and is frequently quoted by the business media on CEO succession, executive development, and M&A integration.  He holds a PhD and an MBA in organizational behavior from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, an MS in educational psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and a BA in psychology from SUNY Albany.