PricewaterhouseCoopers /

PwC (officially PricewaterhouseCoopers) is a global professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's second-largest professional services firm (after Deloitte) and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms. It has offices in 757 cities across 154 countries and employs over 161,000 people. It had total revenues of $26.6 billion in 2010, of which $13 billion was generated by its Assurance practice, $7 billion by its Tax practice and $6 billion by its Advisory practice. The firm was formed in 1998 by a merger between Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand. The trading name was shortened to PwC in September 2010 as part of a major rebranding exercise. As of 2010 it was the seventh-largest privately-owned organisation in the United States. The firm was created by the merger of two large firms, Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand in 1998. These two firms each have histories dating back to the nineteenth century. Samuel Lowell Price, an accountant, started his practice in London in 1849. In 1865 Price went into partnership with William Hopkins Holyland and Edwin Waterhouse.