Colin Firth and Natalie Portman won the Oscars but were the real winners these two pwc partners?

Last night the Oscars were held at the Kodak theatre on Hollywood Boulevard and whilst Colin Firth won the Oscar for the best actor and Natalie Portman for the best actress, surely the stars of the night were none other than two people from the Big 4?

Brad Oltmanns and Rick Rosas from pwc were responsible for overseeing the voting for the Oscars as well as handing out the envelopes containing the winners’ names to the award presenters.

A press release by pwc said that “To ensure the utmost secrecy and security, PwC prepares two briefcases with a complete set of envelopes bearing the Oscar winners’ names. Both briefcases are then transported to the ceremony via separate, secret routes with each of the PwC balloting leaders. As a second precautionary measure, the PwC balloting leaders also memorize the names of the award winners. At the show, Oltmanns and Rosas remain backstage and hand each envelope to award presenters before they walk onstage.”

There are also some interesting statistics including an estimated 450,000+  votes counted in the 77 years that pwc have been involved with the Oscar ceremony as well as an approximate 1,700 hours spent on counting and verifying this year’s results.

Now, pwc are one of the top consulting companies in the world and they work on some of the most complex and detailed business projects.

If you take a step back, Mr Oltmanns and Mr Rosas must be the envy of most accountants. Whilst counting votes has to be done accurately and confidentially it’s not the most complex project the firm works on.

So, a relatively straightforward project and the chance to meet the Hollywood stars each year. Not a bad job if you can get it!