Hans-Paul Bürkner

Hans-Paul Bürkner is Chairman of The Boston Consulting Group. He was previously President and Chief Executive from 2003 to 2012. He joined BCG in 1981 and was a member of the teams that opened BCG’s Düsseldorf (1982) and Frankfurt (1991) offices. Before becoming the firm’s CEO, he was head of BCG’s global Financial Services practice, Chair of the Practice Areas, and a member of the Executive Committee.

As CEO, Hans-Paul has driven BCG's expansion by geography, industries and functions. Among others, he has established the Social Impact Initiative and the Public Sector Practice. The Social Impact Initiative supports WFP, The Gates Foundation, Save the Children, Teach for All, WWF, and the Yunus Foundation, besides hundreds of local NGOs. Through the Public Sector Practice, BCG supports governments in addressing critical issues in education, employment, social welfare, taxation, etc.

He has counted among his clients many of the world’s leading companies and public entities during his more than 30 years at BCG. He has worked with them to redefine their strategies and organizations, spearheaded major global expansion initiatives, and supported them in the fundamental restructuring of their businesses.

Hans-Paul studied economics, business administration, and Chinese, receiving a Diploma from the University of Bochum, an MA from Yale University, and a DPhil from the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

Today, he retains offices in Bangkok, Beijing, Frankfurt, Jakarta, Moscow and Mumbai. Besides his extensive travel to the countries where BCG operates in order to support key clients and teams, he is strongly engaged in global and regional conferences such as the World Economic Forum events in Europe, Asia and Africa, and the China Development and Boao Asian Forums. Hans-Paul is also Chair of the Centre for Public Impact, a new global not-for-profit BCG foundation that connects governments and their partners around the world to share and develop ideas that result in better outcomes for citizens. As the co-chair for various taskforces of the B20, he moderates a multitude of public and private institutions to provide input for the G20 leaders meeting.