BDO welcomes ‘new era’ with global appointments

BDO, the world’s fifth largest professional services network, has named its incoming global CEO commencing November 2026, as well as various key leadership appointments.

Tony Schiffman, BDO Australia chief executive partner, was included within the global announcement as he was set to be appointed to the role of global chair, effective 1 November 2025.

Schiffman would transition into his new role before ending his tenancy as Australia’s chief executive partner on 1 December 2025 and is set to be succeeded by David Garvey.

According to the firm, this announcement reflected a “strategic reset” and decision to remain independent of external equity investment to “ensure a strong and sustainable future for the global organisation”.

“As part of its international business growth strategy, BDO is prioritising greater global integration by accelerating consolidation among member firms and strengthening go-to-market collaboration across the network, leveraging regional strengths,” BDO said.

“This will enable BDO to serve an increasingly international and complex client base.”

Trond-Morten Lindberg, BDO’s current chief strategy and operations officer, was named as the firm’s incoming global CEO, succeeding Pat Kramer, who will conclude in the role in November 2026.

As the changeover in leadership was not set to take place for another year, BDO noted Kramer would strive to collaborate with Lindberg to shape BDO’s strategy and drive alignment, consistency and execution across its global operations.

As part of this, Kramer would also work with the global leadership team to strengthen BDO’s position in the global mid-market position and client base extending across more than 160 countries and territories and its staff base of over 92,000 across 882 offices.

Other key appointments included the ratification of Matthew Becker as BDO US’ incoming CEO, effective from 1 July 2026 and Dr Jens Freiberg, from BDO Germany, being offered a position on the firm’s global board.

Speaking about his appointment, Lindberg said the next year before he stepped into the position would be focused on collaborating with Kramer and BDO’s global leaders.

“I am immensely proud to take on this role at an important juncture for BDO and our industry,” he said.

“I look forward to continuing to work with Pat and all our leaders globally, as we focus on the next phase of our growth and securing a strong and sustainable future for our generation.”

BDO noted these appointments marked a new era as it continued to invest in long-term growth and its aim to build a “future-fit” organisation.