A global organizational consulting firm that helps companies with talent, leadership, strategy, and rewards, operating across five solution areas like organization strategy and talent acquisition. It was founded in 1969 in Los Angeles by Lester Korn and Richard Ferry, two former accountants who met at Peat Marwick. The duo launched the firm from a tiny Century City office with little more than one phone, one assistant, and a prized Rolodex of contacts — and even named it "Korn/Ferry International" from day one to signal grand global ambitions.
Executive Search revenue rose 10% in FY2026, its strongest year in over two years, driving a 7% total fee revenue increase.
Korn Ferry's highest-margin business, Executive Search, returned to clear growth. rose 7% to $2.91 billion and increased 13% to $277.4 million, as a 10% increase in Executive Search and an 11% increase in Professional Search & Interim outweighed severance costs from layoffs. The company enters FY2027 with a new regional reporting structure and an expanded capital return program.
Key takeaways
Executive Search rose 10% for the full year, with North America up 9% on higher and average fees, marking a recovery in the highest-margin business line after a flat FY2025.
Professional Search & Interim rose 11%, driven almost entirely by the November 2024 acquisition of Trilogy International, which added interim fee revenue while organic demand for permanent and interim professionals remained subdued.
attributable to Korn Ferry increased 13% to $277.4 million, with expanding 50 to 9.5%, aided by a $13.9 million gain on an office lease modification.
Section summaries
Business
Korn Ferry is a global consulting firm that aligns strategy, leadership, talent, and rewards to improve organizational performance, operating through five solution areas.
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The firm organizes its business around Foundational Assets (proprietary data and IP), Capabilities (six areas including Organization Strategy and Talent Acquisition), and Integrated Solutions that combine capabilities for challenges like Sales Effectiveness and AI Enablement.
Compensation and benefits expense rose 6% to $1,867.0 million, as a $33.6 million increase in performance-related bonus expense tied to higher and severance costs from layoffs offset the benefit of a lower average headcount from prior restructuring.
The Board increased the quarterly 15% to $0.55 per share and authorized a $250 million increase to the program, with $227.7 million remaining available at year-end.
Cross-solution referrals reached 27% of consolidated , up from 14% in 2018, and the top 350 Marquee and Diamond Accounts represented approximately 40% of total fee revenue.
What changed
FY2025 flagged whether Executive Search North America billed engagement volume would sustain its 4% growth. It did: North America Executive Search rose 9% in FY2026, with and average fees both higher, marking the strongest full-year growth for the in over two years.
FY2025 asked whether Professional Search & Interim organic had troughed. It has not recovered: the 's 11% increase was driven almost entirely by the Trilogy International acquisition, with the company noting organic demand remained subdued throughout the year.
FY2025 questioned whether the 30% increase and $74.0 million in buybacks represented a permanent shift in capital allocation. The trend continued: the Board raised the dividend another 15% and added $250 million to the authorization, while the company entered a new $850 million , up from $645 million.
FY2025 flagged whether margin above 17% was sustainable if growth returned and compensation rose. Margin held at 17.1%, essentially flat , as the 7% revenue increase was offset by higher performance-related bonus expense and severance costs.
What to watch
Whether the transition to a regional reporting model (Americas, EMEA, APAC) in Q1 FY2027 obscures or clarifies the trajectory of Executive Search and Professional Search & Interim, the two segments that drove FY2026 growth.
The adoption rate of the Korn Ferry Talent Suite and the cost of sunsetting the legacy Digital platform, given the accelerated that began flowing through the income statement in the second half of FY2026.
Whether the $250 million increase in the authorization and the expanded $850 million signal an acceleration of buybacks or a larger acquisition, and how that choice affects the balance sheet.
The organic trajectory of Professional Search & Interim now that the Trilogy International acquisition has been integrated for over a year, to see if underlying demand for interim and permanent placement finally recovers.
Korn Ferry's go-to-market model, 'We Are Korn Ferry,' emphasizes cross-solution collaboration, with cross-solution referrals reaching 27% of consolidated in fiscal 2026, up from 14% in 2018.
The Marquee and Diamond Accounts Program manages long-term relationships with complex organizations, with 350 accounts representing approximately 40% of consolidated in fiscal 2026.
The firm operates through three engagement models—Advisory, Embedded Solutions, and Subscription-based offerings—with 82% of fiscal 2026 assignments coming from clients served in the prior three years.
In fiscal 2026, the company reported $2,907.5 million in and employed 8,965 full-time professionals across 98 offices in 51 countries.
Beginning in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, Korn Ferry will transition its external reporting from a solution-based presentation to a regional model consisting of the Americas, EMEA, and APAC.
Korn Ferry faces material risks from intense competition, AI disruption, consultant retention, and financial leverage that could pressure revenue and margins.
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Intense competition from large consulting firms, digital/AI-native entrants, and in-house recruiting could force lower prices and market share losses across all segments.
The rapid evolution of generative and agentic AI threatens to disintermediate services, compress pricing, and require costly adaptation, while also creating new legal and cybersecurity risks.
Loss of key consultants poses a direct risk, as the top ten consultants generated approximately 4% of total fee revenue in fiscal 2026, and their business is highly portable.
The company's $400 million in debt and variable-rate expose it to interest rate risk and restrictive covenants that could limit operational flexibility and payments.
, representing 23% of fiscal 2026 , carry profitability risk if project costs are underestimated, and inflationary pressures may further compress margins.
International operations generated 48% of fee , exposing the company to foreign currency fluctuations, geopolitical instability, and diverse regulatory compliance burdens.
Our corporate office is in Los Angeles, California. We lease our corporate office as well as an additional 97 offices through which we conduct business that are located in North America, EMEA, Asia Pacific and Latin America, all of which are used by all of our business segments.…
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Our corporate office is in Los Angeles, California. We lease our corporate office as well as an additional 97 offices through which we conduct business that are located in North America, EMEA, Asia Pacific and Latin America, all of which are used by all of our business segments. As of April 30, 2026, we leased an aggregate of approximately 0.9 million square feet of office space. The leases generally have remaining terms of 1 to 11 years and contain customary terms and conditions. We believe that our facilities are adequate for our current needs, and we do not anticipate any significant difficulty replacing such facilities or locating additional facilities to accommodate any future growth.
From time to time, we are involved in litigation both as a plaintiff and a defendant, relating to claims arising out of our operations. As of the date of this report, we are not engaged in any legal proceedings that are expected, individually or in the aggregate, to have a mater…
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From time to time, we are involved in litigation both as a plaintiff and a defendant, relating to claims arising out of our operations. As of the date of this report, we are not engaged in any legal proceedings that are expected, individually or in the aggregate, to have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Korn Ferry FY2026 fee revenue rose 7% to $2.91B, driven by Professional Search & Interim and Executive Search, with net income margin improving 50 bps to 9.5%.
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Consolidated fee grew 7% to $2,907.5M, led by Professional Search & Interim (+11%), Executive Search North America (+9%), and Consulting (+4%).
attributable to Korn Ferry increased 13% to $277.4M, with margin expanding 50 to 9.5%, while rose 7% to $497.8M (17.1% margin).
Compensation and benefits expense rose 6% to $1,867.0M, primarily due to higher performance-related bonus expense (+$33.6M) and increased salaries and payroll taxes.
General and administrative expenses declined 4% to $247.7M, benefiting from a $13.9M gain on an office lease modification and lower bad debt and integration costs.
Liquidity remained strong with $728.9M in cash and marketable securities (net of trust amounts) and $845.7M available under the new $850M .
The Board increased the quarterly 15% to $0.55 per share and authorized a $250M increase to the program, with $227.7M remaining available.
Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Foreign-currency and interest-rate risks are managed via forward contracts and COLI crediting-rate offsets; a 10% currency swing could cause a $17M gain/loss.
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A 10% adverse move in the ten largest currency exposures by could produce a $17.0 million foreign-exchange gain or loss.
Foreign-currency losses recorded in general and administrative expenses were $4.2M in fiscal 2026, $2.8M in 2025, and $4.5M in 2024.
The company uses foreign-currency forward contracts to offset certain exposures; these are not used for trading and are not designated as hedging instruments under ASC 815.
As of April 30, 2026, no amounts were outstanding under the , which bears interest at Term SOFR or an alternate base rate plus a margin tied to the .
Borrowings against the cash surrender value of COLI contracts totaled $72.2M at year-end; variable-rate risk is mitigated by a corresponding crediting-rate adjustment that increases the CSV.