# Gerson Lehrman Group
**Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG)** is a privately held expert-network firm, founded in New York City in 1998, that connects clients in consulting, investment, and industry with subject-matter experts through paid one-on-one consultations, surveys, transcripts, and events[1](https://glg.com/articles/what-is-an-expert-network) • [2](https://glginsights.com/fact-sheet/). It was the first company in this category and created the expert-network industry, in which platforms coordinate paid consultations between clients and experts such as former executives, industry consultants, customers, and competitors[1](https://glg.com/articles/what-is-an-expert-network) • [3](https://faculty.marshall.usc.edu/Gerard-Hoberg/CETAFE/papers/paper8.pdf).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1998, New York City; the first expert network; still privately held[1](https://glg.com/articles/what-is-an-expert-network) • [2](https://glginsights.com/fact-sheet/) |
| Network size | Approximately 1.2 million members, with hundreds of new experts recruited daily[2](https://glginsights.com/fact-sheet/) |
| Revenue | $589 million from 2,700 clients in the year to 31 December 2020; $322 million in first-half 2021, up 14% year over year[4](https://spearswms.com/wealth/expert-networks/) |
| Revenue model | Subscription revenue was 90.2% of the 2020 total; $480.0 million annualized contract value across 18,733 GLG Direct users[5](https://investables.ai/blog/best-expert-networks-for-private-equity) |
| Pricing | Clients often pay $1,300 or more for a one-hour call; experts receive as little as $300 of that; gross margin 72%[4](https://spearswms.com/wealth/expert-networks/) |
| Debt | $959.9 million on 30 June 2021, to have been repaid with IPO proceeds[4](https://spearswms.com/wealth/expert-networks/) |
| Ownership | Bessemer Venture Partners (2004)[6](https://www.bvp.com/portfolio/gerson-lehrman-group-glg), Silver Lake ($200 million, 2007)[7](https://insights.woozleresearch.com/blog/where-does-1-500-of-an-expert-call-actually-go/), SFW Capital Partners ($200 million+, 2015)[8](https://www.integrity-research.com/glg-remakes-client-platform-with-agentic-ai/) |
## What GLG sells
The standard product is the one-on-one expert call: a client connects by phone or video with an expert from a relevant industry for a consultation[1](https://glg.com/articles/what-is-an-expert-network) • [2](https://glginsights.com/fact-sheet/). Around that core, GLG offers focus groups, surveys, and other qualitative and quantitative research, and clients may work on a blinded basis in which the expert is not told who the client is[1](https://glg.com/articles/what-is-an-expert-network). GLG Direct is the self-service product that connects clients with Network Members for calls, and GLG Syndicated Insights unlocks tens of thousands of archived transcripts, reports, syndicated surveys, and replays[2](https://glginsights.com/fact-sheet/).
The economic function is reducing information asymmetry: investors gain first-hand insight into a firm's financial health, competitive landscape, managerial competence, or potential legal and regulatory risks from people close to the subject[3](https://faculty.marshall.usc.edu/Gerard-Hoberg/CETAFE/papers/paper8.pdf). Clients include the majority of the Top 10 global banks, private equity funds, technology firms, law firms, pharma companies, and management consultancies[2](https://glginsights.com/fact-sheet/).
## History and ownership
GLG was founded in 1998 and created the expert-network industry[1](https://glg.com/articles/what-is-an-expert-network). [Bessemer Venture Partners](https://www.edgepedia.org/bessemer-venture-partners) partnered with the firm in 2004[6](https://www.bvp.com/portfolio/gerson-lehrman-group-glg). Silver Lake invested $200 million in 2007[7](https://insights.woozleresearch.com/blog/where-does-1-500-of-an-expert-call-actually-go/), and in 2015 the private equity firm SFW Capital Partners invested more than $200 million to support international expansion and technology development[8](https://www.integrity-research.com/glg-remakes-client-platform-with-agentic-ai/).
**The IPO that was not.** GLG filed a Form S-1 with the SEC on 18 October 2021, its only financial disclosure[5](https://investables.ai/blog/best-expert-networks-for-private-equity). The filing showed debt of $959.9 million on 30 June 2021, to be paid down with IPO proceeds[4](https://spearswms.com/wealth/expert-networks/), and in the ten months before the planned offering the company distributed over $450 million to its private equity owner[7](https://insights.woozleresearch.com/blog/where-does-1-500-of-an-expert-call-actually-go/). GLG withdrew the offering in March 2022 and remains privately held[5](https://investables.ai/blog/best-expert-networks-for-private-equity) • [2](https://glginsights.com/fact-sheet/). Inex One's Max Friberg calculated that GLG's leaders valued the firm at about $1.4 billion in 2020[4](https://spearswms.com/wealth/expert-networks/).
## How the business model works
Revenue is overwhelmingly subscription-based: 90.2% of the 2020 total and 89.1% of 2019, with transactional revenue covering discrete projects such as surveys and law-firm expert-witness work[5](https://investables.ai/blog/best-expert-networks-for-private-equity). The 2020 S-1 reported $480.0 million of annualized contract value against 18,733 unique GLG Direct users, about $25,623 per user, and more than 2,500 active subscription accounts, roughly $192,000 per account per year[5](https://investables.ai/blog/best-expert-networks-for-private-equity).
**The margin structure.** GLG reported a 72% gross profit margin. Clients often pay $1,300 or more for a one-hour call, of which as little as $300 goes to the expert[4](https://spearswms.com/wealth/expert-networks/). On a representative $1,500 call, roughly $300 (20%) goes to the expert and about $350 (23%) to profit, debt service, and the private equity sponsor, per the S-1[7](https://insights.woozleresearch.com/blog/where-does-1-500-of-an-expert-call-actually-go/). Typical mid-ranking experts receive $250 to $500 an hour, while medical specialists or former CEOs can demand $1,000; one client was charged $30,000 for a call with a former top Google engineer[4](https://spearswms.com/wealth/expert-networks/). GLG pays experts by the minute and reduces the fee if a call runs under 60 minutes, even though clients are charged for a full hour[4](https://spearswms.com/wealth/expert-networks/).
## By the numbers
The industry GLG founded has grown substantially. Aggregate expert-network revenues grew from $409.3 million in 2012 to $2.28 billion in 2023, a 16% compound annual growth rate, though growth slowed to 1% in 2023[9](https://www.integrity-research.com/expert-networks-continues-meager-growth-led-by-pe-industry-in-2023/). A 2024 market report estimated that there were about 120 expert networks and reported that 70% of industry revenues came from outside the public equity segment[9](https://www.integrity-research.com/expert-networks-continues-meager-growth-led-by-pe-industry-in-2023/). Market-size estimates differ: GLG's own explainer puts industry revenue at $1.3 billion by the end of 2023[1](https://glg.com/articles/what-is-an-expert-network), while QY Research estimates US$3,483 million for 2023, forecast to US$6,142 million by 2030 at an 8.5% CAGR, with the top five players holding about 56% share[10](https://www.qyresearch.com/reports/3269168/expert-networks).
GLG's own scale has changed markedly. A law-review account of the period around 2009 to 2013 describes roughly 300,000 expert consultants, called Council Members, across eight practice areas, with more than 850 clients including over 70% of the world's leading mutual funds, 15 of the leading 20 global banks, and 9 of the leading 10 global private equity firms[11](https://www.bu.edu/rbfl/files/2013/10/Jeng.pdf). An official press release later records more than 900,000 experts, approximately 1,200 employees in 22 offices in 12 countries, and a professional-learning platform that had reached half a million members[12](https://glg.com/news/worlds-largest-professional-learning-platform-glg-now-has-half-million-members-delivering-on-demand-learning). The current fact sheet gives approximately 1.2 million network members[2](https://glginsights.com/fact-sheet/). Headcount figures conflict: LinkedIn company data lists 12,342 employees, against the official figure of approximately 1,200[12](https://glg.com/news/worlds-largest-professional-learning-platform-glg-now-has-half-million-members-delivering-on-demand-learning).
## How it compares with other expert networks
A 2024 market report described GLG as the largest player, but said it had struggled with growth as competitors chipped away at its market share[9](https://www.integrity-research.com/expert-networks-continues-meager-growth-led-by-pe-industry-in-2023/). Historical share estimates put it at 66% in 2009 per Integrity Research[11](https://www.bu.edu/rbfl/files/2013/10/Jeng.pdf) and 60% in a later period per a legal trade article[13](https://natlawreview.com/article/siren-song-securities-perils-expert-networks-risks-insider-trading); the two estimates have not been reconciled.
The three other global leaders are AlphaSights, Third Bridge, and Guidepoint. Third Bridge was founded in the UK by former Bain & Co consultants and has more than 1,000 employees; Guidepoint is New York-based and claims 900,000 experts in 150 countries[4](https://spearswms.com/wealth/expert-networks/). The big four split along two axes: scale of standing expert database, where GLG and Guidepoint run the largest pools, and product model, where AlphaSights leads managed, associate-driven delivery and Third Bridge pairs its network with its Forum transcript library[14](https://iqnetwork.co/glg-vs-alphasights-vs-guidepoint-vs-third-bridge/). All of the major networks, including Dialectica and Tegus, custom-recruit experts for a brief rather than relying only on a database, and clients can lead calls themselves at all of them; GLG offers self-service through myGLG[15](https://instant.expert/blog/expert-network-companies). Consolidation is under way among data-adjacent rivals: Tegus was acquired by [AlphaSense](https://www.edgepedia.org/alphasense) at a disclosed price of $930 million in July 2024[5](https://investables.ai/blog/best-expert-networks-for-private-equity). Third Bridge's London operating company filed audited UK accounts showing $73.4 million revenue in 2025, with two private equity clients paying $753,939 and $2,157,670[5](https://investables.ai/blog/best-expert-networks-for-private-equity).
## Compliance and controversies
The industry's compliance regime was forged by prosecutions. In February 2011 the SEC charged six expert-network consultants and employees with insider trading for tipping hedge funds and other investors, generating nearly $6 million in illicit gains, and sought disgorgement, penalties, and officer-and-director bars against three of them[16](https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2011-38-sec-brings-expert-network-insider-trading-charges). The 2010 to 2014 prosecutions, including Primary Global Research, Galleon, and the Martoma/SAC case, forced the entire category to build heavy, manual compliance[7](https://insights.woozleresearch.com/blog/where-does-1-500-of-an-expert-call-actually-go/). As the SEC has acknowledged, expert-network firms, consultants, and clients must guard against insider trading involving material, nonpublic information acquired through a breach of duty[17](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2262103).
**GLG's current controls.** Its compliance team comprises more than 50 professionals, led by General Counsel Laurence Herman[18](https://glg.com/compliance). Experts must sign and annually re-sign terms agreeing not to provide confidential or material non-public information and to decline violating projects, and they complete a sector-specific annual tutorial available in 20 languages[18](https://glg.com/compliance). GLG stores millions of answers to screening questions to identify expert conflicts and disqualify conflicted experts, and employed experts are barred from projects about their employer[18](https://glg.com/compliance). A web-based compliance dashboard lets client oversight personnel view their firm's primary research activity in real time and pre-approve consultations[18](https://glg.com/compliance). Earlier controls were already substantial: at one point GLG maintained 18 full-time compliance staff and 100 software developers and IT staff, permitted a client to speak with the same expert no more than three times in one year, and capped an expert's earnings at $2,500 per client engagement[19](https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/2bt05gtshvkrgke0lp62o/portfolio/how-will-the-expert-networks-controversy-affect-gerson-lehrman). Historical policy also barred disclosure of material nonpublic information, confidential information, and investment advice[11](https://www.bu.edu/rbfl/files/2013/10/Jeng.pdf).
## Recent developments: AI and the platform shift
On May 5, 2026, GLG announced a reimagined myGLG client platform embedding agentic AI that converts a high-level client question into structured research angles and precise expert recommendations within minutes[20](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/glg-advances-new-era-of-expert-research-with-reimagined-client-experience-302762797.html). The relaunched platform includes a Strategic Research Agent, AI-moderated one-on-one calls, quantitative surveys, and synthesis tooling that traces every insight to a timestamp or quote, built on the compliance framework with configurable data governance[20](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/glg-advances-new-era-of-expert-research-with-reimagined-client-experience-302762797.html). It also launched an MCP connector letting clients query their complete project call history and Expert Content Library within their own AI platforms, with outputs traceable to specific expert conversations[21](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/glg-launches-mcp-connector-advances-frontier-of-expert-research-302832234.html).
These launches followed a period of slow growth: industry revenue rose only 1% in 2023[9](https://www.integrity-research.com/expert-networks-continues-meager-growth-led-by-pe-industry-in-2023/), and a 2024 market report said GLG had struggled with growth as competitors took share[9](https://www.integrity-research.com/expert-networks-continues-meager-growth-led-by-pe-industry-in-2023/).
## References
1. [What Is an Expert Network? GLG](https://glg.com/articles/what-is-an-expert-network)
2. [Get to Know GLG (Fact Sheet), GLG](https://glginsights.com/fact-sheet/)
3. [Expert Networks as Information Intermediaries in Private Capital Markets (academic working paper)](https://faculty.marshall.usc.edu/Gerard-Hoberg/CETAFE/papers/paper8.pdf)
4. [How expert networks became a successful multi-billion dollar industry, Spears WMS](https://spearswms.com/wealth/expert-networks/)
5. [Best Expert Networks for Private Equity by Cost 2026, Investables](https://investables.ai/blog/best-expert-networks-for-private-equity)
6. [Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG), Bessemer Venture Partners](https://www.bvp.com/portfolio/gerson-lehrman-group-glg)
7. [Where does $1,500 of an expert call actually go?, Woozle Research](https://insights.woozleresearch.com/blog/where-does-1-500-of-an-expert-call-actually-go/)
8. [GLG Remakes Client Platform with Agentic AI, Integrity Research](https://www.integrity-research.com/glg-remakes-client-platform-with-agentic-ai/)
9. [Expert Networks Continue Meager Growth Led By PE Industry in 2023, Integrity Research](https://www.integrity-research.com/expert-networks-continues-meager-growth-led-by-pe-industry-in-2023/)
10. [Expert Networks: Global Market Share and Forecast 2024-2030, QY Research](https://www.qyresearch.com/reports/3269168/expert-networks)
11. [Review of Banking & Financial Law, Boston University, Vol. 32](https://www.bu.edu/rbfl/files/2013/10/Jeng.pdf)
12. [GLG Now Has Half-Million Members (press release), GLG](https://glg.com/news/worlds-largest-professional-learning-platform-glg-now-has-half-million-members-delivering-on-demand-learning)
13. [The Siren Song of Securities: The Perils of Expert Networks & The Risks of Insider Trading, National Law Review](https://natlawreview.com/article/siren-song-securities-perils-expert-networks-risks-insider-trading)
14. [GLG vs AlphaSights vs Guidepoint vs Third Bridge, IQ Network](https://iqnetwork.co/glg-vs-alphasights-vs-guidepoint-vs-third-bridge/)
15. [Expert network companies: what GLG, AlphaSights, Tegus and others offer, Instant Expert](https://instant.expert/blog/expert-network-companies)
16. [SEC Brings Expert Network Insider Trading Charges, SEC press release 2011-38](https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2011-38-sec-brings-expert-network-insider-trading-charges)
17. [Expert Networks and Insider Trading: An Introduction and Recommendation, SSRN](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2262103)
18. [GLG's Robust Compliance Framework, GLG](https://glg.com/compliance)
19. [How Will the Expert Networks Controversy Affect Gerson Lehrman?, Institutional Investor](https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/2bt05gtshvkrgke0lp62o/portfolio/how-will-the-expert-networks-controversy-affect-gerson-lehrman)
20. [GLG Advances New Era of Expert Research with Reimagined Client Experience, PR Newswire](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/glg-advances-new-era-of-expert-research-with-reimagined-client-experience-302762797.html)
21. [GLG Launches MCP Connector, Advances Frontier of Expert Research, PR Newswire](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/glg-launches-mcp-connector-advances-frontier-of-expert-research-302832234.html)
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