William Welch Deloitte

Our firm originated from William Welch Deloitte who started as an assistant to the Official Assignee of the Bankruptcy Court in London. In 1845, aged 25, he opened his office in the city and after four years only, Deloitte became the first independent auditor ever appointed. His reputation grew from his exposure to fraud in the railway industry, and in 1893 opened an office in the United States named as 'Deloitte's' at that time.

George Touch

George Touch was an accountant from Edinburgh, United Kingdom. An 'e' was added because of the continual mispronunciation of his name (it sounds like "loch"). He had a special talent in saving and restoring near-bankrupt firms and in 1900 he formed the firm "Touch, Niven & Co." in New York. Later in life, he became a Member of Parliament for North Islington in 1910, was knighted in 1917 and died in 1935.

Nobuzo Tohmatsu

The third founder of the global Deloitte firm is Admiral Nobuzo Tohmatsu, Japanese Naval Attaché in London. In 1952, aged 57, Tohmatsu became a public accountant and was promoted to become a director in a private corporation. In 1967, he became president of the Japanese CPA. He had also been an instructor at the Naval Paymasters' Academy, where he taught Iwao Tomita - the youngest ever student of the Academy. Tohmatsu believed in sending his partners across the world to gain international experience and it is due to this visionary man that Deloitte today is a truly global and internationally recognised firm.