Bradley Preber
Grant Thornton
Excellence in Leadership
Bradley Preber once completed a sizable consulting project for the U.S. Government, and as a result, became one of the foremost experts in certain types of records managed by the U.S. government. Subsequently, he became a testifying partner and expert witness for the Department of Justice—testifying in what is now one of the largest class-action lawsuits ever filed against the U.S. The rest is history: He became a full time financial forensics specialist from that point forward.
Today Preber is the National Managing Partner for Business Risk Services, which includes anti-corruption; investigation; litigation and dispute resolution; valuation; and forensic technology services, such as eDiscovery, eForensics and data analytics.
Preber also serves as the firm's Phoenix office managing partner and is the Chairman of Grant Thornton's Partnership Board. He has more than 35 years of experience serving clients as a litigation consultant, expert witness, forensic accountant, neutral arbitrator and fraud investigator.
"My success boils down to staying curious, being faithful, working hard, having personal integrity at all times, and receiving love and support from my family … not to mention the incredible people and clients I've been lucky to work with throughout my years in consulting," Preber says. "The desire to be a servant leader, which means you must care enough to know, so you know enough to serve," motivates him to excel. "Most importantly, my family motivates me above all else. They have continually supported me throughout my career and I can't thank them enough."
When he reflects on his career, a handful of accomplishments come to mind: Passing the CPA exam and becoming a certified public accountant; becoming a partner at Arthur Andersen; becoming Grant Thornton's first office-managing partner who was not an audit- or tax-professional; and leading the firm's Forensic and Valuation Services practice.
"I'm also very proud that I served on the global steering committee to grow forensics for Grant Thornton International. Plus, I've written and published two books on forensic accounting," he says. "And I was recently elected as the chairman of Grant Thornton's Partnership Board." Lastly, he's also extremely proud of what he does outside of the office, which includes raising funds for the Navajo Nation Children's charity.
What does he enjoy most about consulting? "It doesn't hurt to work on some fascinating financial-fraud investigations and bet-the-company litigation matters," he says. "But I most enjoy the clients and people that I work with; they are the most rewarding aspect of consulting."
He says the best advice he's ever received is this—consult, consult, consult. "And I'm not just talking about consulting to clients," he says. "The only way you survive a long professional career is to surround yourself with intelligent people and consult with them along the way."
What does winning Consulting's Top 25 Award mean to you?
Preber: "For me, this award recognizes that my personal efforts, services that I've provided and results I've achieved have mattered. It is also a great honor to be recognized among the best in the business. But perhaps most importantly, this is proof that Grant Thornton has excellent people working in consulting. Consulting is a team sport and I am grateful for the team I get to play on every day."
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