Mitt Romney

===Management consulting===
After receiving his JD–MBA from Harvard, Romney passed the Michigan [[Bar examination in the United States|bar exam]] but decided to pursue a career in business rather than law.<ref>Kranish; Helman, ''The Real Romney'', p. 97.</ref> He was recruited by several large companies but joined the [[Boston Consulting Group]] (BCG), reasoning that working as a [[management consultant]] for a variety of companies would better prepare him for a future position as a chief executive.<ref name="bgseries3" /><ref name="MrPowerPoint" /> Part of a 1970s wave of top graduates who chose to go into consulting rather than join a large company directly,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/11/sunday-review/consultant-nation.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111211025543/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/11/sunday-review/consultant-nation.html |archive-date=December 11, 2011 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Consultant Nation|author=Leonhardt, David|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=December 11, 2011|author-link=David Leonhardt}}</ref> he found his legal and business education useful in his job.<ref name="bgseries3" /> He applied BCG principles such as the [[growth-share matrix]],<ref name="nykr2007" /> and executives viewed him as having a bright future there.<ref name="bgseries3" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/us/politics/mitt-romney-and-benjamin-netanyahu-are-old-friends.html|title=A Friendship Dating to 1976 Resonates in 2012|first=Michael|last=Barbaro|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 7, 2012|access-date=February 11, 2017|archive-date=January 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170117080821/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/us/politics/mitt-romney-and-benjamin-netanyahu-are-old-friends.html|url-status=live}}</ref> At BCG, he was a colleague of [[Benjamin Netanyahu]], with whom he formed a friendship that has lasted for more than 40 years.<ref>{{cite news |title=A Friendship Dating From 1976 Resonates in 2012 |last=Barbaro |first=Michael |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/us/politics/mitt-romney-and-benjamin-netanyahu-are-old-friends.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=April 7, 2012 |access-date=April 7, 2012 |archive-date=April 8, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120408215016/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/us/politics/mitt-romney-and-benjamin-netanyahu-are-old-friends.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1977, he was hired by [[Bain & Company]], a management consulting firm in [[Boston]] formed a few years earlier by [[Bill Bain (consultant)|Bill Bain]] and several other ex-BCG employees.<ref name="bgseries3" /><ref name="nykr2007" /><ref name="hewitt-48">Hewitt, ''A Mormon in the White House?'', pp. 48–49.</ref> Bain later said of the 30-year-old Romney, "He had the appearance of confidence of a guy who was maybe ten years older."<ref name="howmakemoney">{{Cite news|first=David D.|last=Kirkpatrick|title=Romney's Fortunes Tied to Business Riches |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/04/us/politics/04bain.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070606141352/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/04/us/politics/04bain.html |archive-date=June 6, 2007 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 4, 2007}}</ref> Unlike other consulting firms, which issued recommendations and then departed, Bain & Company <!-- "Bain way" --> immersed itself in a client's businesses and worked with them until changes were implemented.<ref name="bgseries3" /><ref name="nykr2007" /> Romney became a vice president of the firm in 1978,<ref name="crim102194" /> working with such clients as the [[Monsanto Company]], [[Outboard Marine Corporation]], [[Burlington Industries]], and [[Corning Incorporated]].<ref name="MrPowerPoint" /> Within a few years, the firm considered him one of its best consultants. In fact, clients sometimes preferred to use him rather than more-senior partners.<ref name="bgseries3" /><ref name="vf-excerpt" />