outlook & analysis

fun facts: 12 accountant celebrities

before they were famous, and sometimes after, too… these celebrities were accountants.

  1. john grisham, author of a time to kill, the firm and many other exciting novels, received his undergraduate degree in accounting from mississippi state university.
  2. before he was lead singer in the rolling stones, mick jagger studied to be an accountant at the london school of economics.
  3. singer janet jackson studied to be an accountant.
  4. j walter diemer, an accountant for the fleer corporation in the 1920’s, tinkered with gum recipes in his spare time and created a chewy, rubbery substance better known as bubble gum.
  5. funny man bob newhart started out in accounting.
  6. former texas rangers manager kevin kennedy, a cpa, did his players’ tax returns to make extra money when he managed in the minor leagues.
  7. track sensation marcus o’sullivan passed the cpa exam.
  8. tim dubois, known as “the singing accountant,” wrote the alabama hit “love in the first degree,” the jerry reed hit, “she got the goldmine, i got the shaft,” and the vince gill hit, “when i call your name.” he is currently the president of arista records in nashville.
  9. luca paciolo wrote the first book on double-entry accounting in 1494. he is frequently referred to as the father of accounting. he’s still a hot commodity today.
  10. when hernando cortes landed in the new world, he brought horses, soldiers – and his accountant, alonso de avila. as a reward for excellent service, de avila was made the first mayor of veracruz, in what is now mexico.
  11. j. p. morgan got his first wall street job as a junior accountant. five years later he founded his own company.
  12. ray wersching, the ex san francisco 49er field goal kicker, was a cpa during the off-season.

have more? tell us in comments.

21 responses to “fun facts: 12 accountant celebrities”

  1. ben

    ray romano got a degree in accounting too.

  2. sipho

    sol kerzner was chartered accountant he graduated at university of witwatersrand

  3. margaret hicks

    i think that kenny g. majored in accounting at the univerity of washington.

  4. rob king, cpa

    yes, john grisham received both his j.d. and bachelors in accounting from ole miss.

    • right

      wrong. john received his accounting degree from mississippi state u.

  5. conchita c. selvo, ea, mba

    you may want to recheck john grisham’s school. i am sure he received his law degree from the university of mississippi. if he has an accounting degree, it may have come from there as well. mississippi state university is in starkville, ms, and the university of mississippi is in oxford, ms. i know he remains attached to oxford, ms.

  6. nimalka wijesooriya

    grady alderman the vikings football player (i believe he was either a tackle or defensive end) was also a cpa.

  7. el brocko

    craig counsell, a major league shortstop for about the last 10 or 12 years and currently with the milwaukee brewers graduated from notre dame with an accounting degree. sn ranked him as the 13th most intelligent athlete in sports.

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  9. clark russell

    for us older accountants, character actor jack elam was an accountant

  10. sj seminack

    padraig harrington (the irish golfer) has an accounting background

  11. michael munn

    charlie joiner, hall of fame receiver, is an accountant.

  12. anonymous

    kenny g majored in accounting at the u of washington. arthur’s mom on the children’s pbs show, “arthur” is a tax accountant. ward cleaver of “leave it to beaver” was an accountant.

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  15. kevin goldman

    seems nike ceo phil knight and home depot ceo & atlanta falcons owner arthur blank are both cpas.

  16. christopher cyr

    comedian eddie izzard was a chartered accountant.

  17. accounting outsource

    good information provided.

  18. gary carlington

    jack elam, movie and tv badguy in numerous westerns and detective shows, started out as an accountant.

  19. michael burnett

    at the first modern olympic games in athens 1896 an australian accountant won the first gold medals for his country in the 800m and 1500m track events (he was based in london working with price waterhouse at the time).

  20. julian sur

    john cleese from monty python was a chartered accountant and had a very famous skit parodying aca’s in mp.