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Gary Pinkus

Senior PartnerBay Area

Chairman of North America and a global leader in private equity and investment, with deep roots in healthcare

Gary is chairman of North America. He was previously the managing partner for the firm in North America, and before that led McKinsey’s office for the Western United States. Gary is also the former global leader of McKinsey’s Private Equity & Principal Investors Practice, which he helped cofound more than two decades ago. He has been a long-time member of McKinsey's Shareholders Council (our global governance board), including historically chairing the Finance and Infrastructure Committee and the Risk, Audit, and Governance Committee. His client work spans multiple industries with a particular focus on private equity and principal investors.

Gary joined McKinsey in Los Angeles in 1987 as a business analyst and came to the firm’s San Francisco office in 1992. Over the course of his career, he has worked for Dole Food Company in Honduras, Bear Stearns’ M&A group in New York, and in McKinsey's Houston, Mexico City, Sydney, and Zurich offices.

Gary currently serves on the boards of Wake Forest University and US Ski and Snowboard Association. He is a prior member of the boards of San Francisco Opera, California Academy of Sciences, Menlo School, California Business Roundtable, Silicon Valley Leadership Group, ReSurge International (formerly Interplast), and the investment committee for Woodside School Foundation. He earned a Bachelor's degree in English and quantitative economics from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School, both with distinction. He and his wife, Mary, celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary in 2019 and have four children and three dogs.

Published work

Rethinking the future of American capitalism,” McKinsey Global Institute, November 2020

The ‘war’ on COVID-19: What real wars do (and don’t) teach us about the economic impact of the pandemic,” McKinsey & Company, May 2020

The first step to fixing US manufacturing,” Harvard Business Review, November 2017

Making it in America: Revitalizing US manufacturing,” McKinsey Global Institute, November 2017

Here's how to get the U.S. economy to grow 3.5% or more,” Fortune, December 2016

Digital America: A tale of the haves and have-mores,” McKinsey & Company, December 2015

A conversation with Jim Coulter,” McKinsey & Company, February 2015

Private equity: Changing perceptions and new realities,” McKinsey & Company, April 2014

Education

Harvard Business School
MBA

Stanford University
BA (English and quantitative economics)

Activities & interests

Wake Forest University
Board Member

US Ski & Snowboard Association
Board Member