French Senate Investigation Reveals 'McKinsey Gate' Scandal: Nearly €1 Billion in Government Consulting Fees

A French Senate inquiry committee releases a 400-page report revealing that the French government has spent almost €1 billion in consulting fees since 2017, with very little to show for it. The scandal, dubbed ‘McKinsey Gate,’ centers on the deep ties between McKinsey & Company and President Emmanuel Macron’s government, raising serious questions about conflicts of interest, tax evasion, and the outsourcing of government policymaking to private consultants.

The investigation reveals that McKinsey received €10.7 million in contracts during the COVID-19 crisis, including work developing France’s vaccination policy. McKinsey was also paid €496,000 for a report on the future of teaching that was deemed unoriginal and ineffective, costing €2,480 per page, and charged €957,000 for pension reform work that yielded minimal results (a PowerPoint and a 50-page document).

The Senate uncovers that McKinsey had not paid corporate taxes in France for the previous ten years despite earning substantial fees from government contracts. The investigation also reveals that about a dozen McKinsey members worked on developing Macron’s political program for his 2017 presidential campaign (disclosed in the MacronLeaks), and that McKinsey’s connections with Macron’s party allowed the firm to establish a strong foothold within government decision-making.

McKinsey France president Karim Tadjeddine’s connections with Macron, dating back to 2007 when they met during the Attali Commission, created conflicts of interest where consultants used pro bono campaign work to forge connections that later led to profitable government contracts. This represents systematic corruption of democratic governance through the privatization of policymaking and the revolving door between consulting firms and political leadership.