Who Owns William Blair?

William McCormick Blair founded the firm in Chicago in 1935, during the Great Depression, after working in banking and serving in World War I military intelligence. The timing was unusual: he opened a financial firm in the depths of the worst economic collapse in American history, betting on the recovery of capital markets and on relationships with Midwestern industrial companies.

Blair's founding credo, "when our clients succeed, the firm's success will follow," became the firm's operating philosophy and is still quoted internally. The firm grew through the mid-twentieth century as an investment banking and brokerage house serving Chicago-area companies and high-net-worth families, building the private wealth management business that remains core.

The firm expanded into institutional investment management, equity research, and institutional sales and trading, developing a reputation in growth-stock research and investment banking for middle-market companies. It internationalized through offices in London, Frankfurt, Zurich, and other financial centers while keeping its ownership entirely inside the firm.

Under Brent Gledhill's two-decade leadership, William Blair has grown into a global boutique with offices in more than 20 cities. As of December 2025, it reported $72.3 billion in assets under management across its investment management and wealth businesses, with approximately 2,000 employees and more than 220 partners. It is one of the last major independent investment firms of its scale to remain entirely employee-owned.