The company was founded by Bruce D. Henderson, a Vanderbilt University and Harvard Business School alumnus. After many years in the purchasing department of Westinghouse in Pittsburgh (where pricing behavior gave him the idea of the experience curve), he joined Arthur D. Little in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was then recruited by The Boston Company, where he founded a one-man, one-telephone consulting unit he named Boston Consulting Group.
In 1975, Henderson arranged an employee stock ownership plan, and employees took the company independent from The Boston Company. The buyout of all shares was completed in 1979.
In January 2013, Rich Lesser became the sixth president and chief executive officer of BCG.