When Sherman Doll, Jay Wirig, and Steve Leininger graduated from the MAcc program in 1979 and 1980, they never guessed that just a few years later they would be together again as partners in an accounting firm. They attribute their longtime friendship and professional success to their Marriott School training and something they call “The Seven O’Clock Club.”
Doll, Wirig, and Leininger coined the Seven O’Clock Club while Marriott School graduate students. The three were married and raising families yet were determined to do well in school. They formed a study group that met several mornings a week in the basement of the Jesse Knight Building—always at 7 a.m.
“We had a rule that the last person in the door had to buy treats for everyone else,” Doll says. “I remember running across the parking lot in the snow and knowing I was late.”
The good study habits developed by Doll, Wirig, and Leininger prepared them for work at Big Eight accounting firms. After graduation, Doll and Wirig started jobs at Deloitte, Haskins & Sells in San Francisco, and Leininger went to Coopers & Lybrand in Dallas.
By 1984, Doll, Wirig, and Leininger ended up at the same accounting firm in the Bay Area. Today, they are each partners in the firm, which has grown to seven partners and includes three businesses: Thomas, Wirig, Doll & Company, CPAs; Capital Performance Advisors; and PensionOne Advisors. Capital Performance Advisors, created in 1999, has grown to manage more than $370 million in assets—despite a poor market.
Leininger traces the firm’s success to the training he and his partners received at BYU. “The Marriott School provided the backdrop of high expectations—then gave us the skills and confidence that we could achieve success in a very competitive world,” he says. “The scholarship and service from our professors provided living examples that one could achieve necessary skills to succeed in all areas of life and become a balanced person of character.”
But Doll, Wirig, and Leininger share more than a passion for accounting. Dedication to family, Church, and common values has preserved their friendship and taken them from study buddies to firm partners.
“Partnerships rarely last this long,” Leininger says. “The things that have kept us together are a deep appreciation for each other’s unique gifts, a passion for serving our clients, and an unconditional commitment to integrity. Money has never been the prime motivator in our relationship with each other.”
After twenty-five years of friendship, Doll, Wirig, and Leininger agree that their commitment to each other hasn’t changed. However, one thing has—partner meetings don’t start until 7:30 a.m.
