RICHARD A. BERKOWITZ

FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, BERKOWITZ POLLACK BRANT ADVISORS + CPAs, FORT LAUDERDALE

Berkowitz Pollack Brant is one of the largest accounting firms in South Florida and one of the top 60 firms in the U.S. The firm and its affiliates — Provenance Wealth Advisors, BayBridge Capital Advisors and BayBridge Real Estate Capital — have offices in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach and New York. Berkowitz has chaired or served on the boards of the Miami Foundation, the Dolphins Cancer Challenge, the Broward Center for the Performing Arts Foundation, the Community Foundation of Broward and the Miami Cancer Institute at Baptist Health South Florida, among others.

EDUCATION: University of North Carolina (BS), University of Miami (JD)

FIRST JOB: Coopers and Lybrand, the predecessor to PWC, an international Big 4 accounting firm.

DREAM ALTERNATE CAREER: CEO of the Florida Panthers

IMPACT ON A MENTEE: I teach a multiyear, comprehensive leadership program so I’ve been fortunate to help mold a generation of young leaders in our firm. It’s a highlight of my career and impact. The true test of leadership is to name a successor that is better than you. We hired Joseph Saka right out of college, and I mentored him from that time. He rose through the ranks to succeed me and become CEO.

SOMETHING SURPRISING: On my 60th birthday, a group of friends and I rode our bikes 600 miles from Canada to Provincetown, Mass., in six days.

INDUSTRY TREND: Private equity is rapidly consolidating the largest firms in the accounting industry, which is resulting in significant disruption to the profession. There is a shortage of students obtaining accounting degrees and AI, LLMs and bots will transform the way we work and how we represent clients.