Our company began when an adventurer, William Welch Deloitte, began working as an assistant to the Official Assignee of the Bankruptcy Court in London. In 1845, when he was just 25 years old, he opened his office in the city and just four years later he became the first independent auditor ever appointed. He built his reputation through the exposure of fraud in the railway industry, and in 1893 opened an office in the United States. It was then called "Deloitte's".

George Touch was an Edinburgh accountant. The continual mispronunciation of his name (it sounds like "loch") caused him to add an "e" and the name Touche was born. Touch had a flair for saving doomed businesses from disaster and in 1900 he formed the firm "Touch, Niven & Co." in New York. He later became an Member of Parliament, was knighted in 1917 and died in 1935.  

The third founder of the global Deloitte firm is Tohmatsu, who as Admiral Nobuzo Tohmatsu was the Japanese Naval Attaché in London. In 1952 Tohmatsu  became a public accountant at the age of 57 and was promoted to become a director in a private corporation. In 1967 he became president of the Japanese CPA. A visionary man who realised the worth of sending his staff overseas to gain experience, it was Tohmatsu who gave the firm the international focus it enjoys today.

Deloitte in South Africa
The origin of Deloitte South Africa dates back to the 19^th century when Howard Pim, Murray Smith, Harry Hands and Gurney Close started up their own operations. More recently, in 1990, Deloitte Haskins & Sells merged with Pim Goldby to form Deloitte Pim Goldby and in 1992, this name was changed to Deloitte & Touche to conform with the international name. In 2004, the international firm changed its name to Deloitte.