A 600,000 DM sale of a laundry business provided the initial capital for Roland Berger to launch his consulting career in 1967. Born in Berlin in 1937, Berger transitioned from early entrepreneurial ventures to establishing a management firm that expanded from its Munich origins into a global organization, eventually serving both corporate entities and government institutions.
Early Career and Consulting Foundation
After graduating in 1962 with a Diploma of Business Administration from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Berger joined the Boston Consulting Group. His tenure there spanned five years with assignments in Boston and Milan. In 1967, he founded his own consultancy in Munich, which he led as CEO until 2003. A key project in 1968 involved forecasting the growth of the charter flight market, which led to the creation of the travel company TUI.
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Berger aggressively pursued international markets, opening a Milan branch in 1969 to facilitate cross-border consulting work. In 1988, Deutsche Bank acquired a 75.1 percent stake in the firm for nearly 100 million marks, later increasing its ownership to 95 percent in 1997. Berger and his staff completed a management buyout of the firm one year later, restoring independent control. Following his departure as CEO in 2003, he became chairman of the supervisory board and later honorary chairman in 2010.
Policy Advisory and Academic Roles
Throughout his career, Berger served as a policy advisor, notably working with Gerhard Schröder during his time as Minister-President of Lower Saxony and as Chancellor of Germany. Despite an offer to serve as Minister of Economy in 1998, he chose to maintain his independence. His academic involvement includes a visiting professorship at the Technical University of Munich starting in 1996 and an honorary professorship at the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg beginning in 2000.
Philanthropy and Additional Engagements
Berger founded the Roland Berger Foundation for Human Dignity and has contributed to various international organizations. He is a member of Atlantik-Brücke, the German-Russian Forum, and the European Council on Foreign Relations. His investment activities include serving as a founding partner and chairman of the London-based firm RiverRock European Capital Partners. In 2015, he received the appointment of honorary consul general of Singapore in Munich.
Fast facts
- Born: 1937, Berlin, Germany
- Education: University of Hamburg; Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
- Early occupation: Laundry owner
- Consulting firm predecessor: Founded 1967, Munich
- Advisory role: Chancellor Gerhard Schröder
- Academic appointments: Technical University of Munich; Brandenburg University of Technology
- Awards: Bavarian Order of Merit; Great Silver Medal of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria
- Honorary distinction: Honorary doctor of Lusíada University
Questions readers ask
What consulting firm did Roland Berger establish?
He founded the predecessor of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants in 1967.
Did Roland Berger hold public office in Germany?
No, he served as a private advisor to Chancellor Gerhard Schröder but declined the offer to become Minister of Economy.
Achievements
- Bavarian Order of Merit
- Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- Great Silver Medal of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria
- Honorary doctorate from the Technical University of Munich
- Affiliated with Boston Consulting Group
- Educated at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München and University of Hamburg
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