Alwin C. Ernst
Alwin C. Ernst, also known as Alvin or A. C. Ernst, was an American businessman and one of the founders of the accounting firm Ernst & Ernst. He was born on July 26, 1881, in Cleveland, Ohio, and died on May 13, 1948, in Cleveland at the age of 66.
In 1903, he and his older brother Theodore C. Ernst started Ernst & Ernst with $500 in capital. Ernst created the firm’s Special Services Department in 1908, which later became the basis for modern management consulting. He is credited with using financial accounting data to help make business decisions and with pioneering management consulting.
The firm grew quickly. By 1908 there were offices in Chicago, by 1909 in New York City, by 1911 in Cincinnati, and by 1913 in St. Louis. The company expanded to 16 offices by 1919 and 26 by 1929. Ernst earned his Ohio Certified Public Accountant (CPA) certificate in 1910. He and two partners left the American Institute of CPAs after the institute acted against the firm for advertising, and Ernst never rejoined.
In April 1913, Governor James M. Cox appointed Ernst secretary of the Red Cross Ohio Flood Relief Commission after the Great Flood of 1913 in Southern Ohio.
Aside from business, Ernst owned and bred thoroughbred racehorses. His horses included Alorter, a multiple stakes winner that captured the 1943 Cowdin Stakes, and Algasir, who died before winning the 1948 Cowdin Stakes but set a world record for four furlongs.
Ernst was buried at Knollwood Cemetery in Mayfield Heights, Ohio. He was remembered as one of Cleveland’s most charitable and philanthropic citizens. After his death, his four daughters inherited his estate and sold most of his racing stable in 1948 at Saratoga; the horse Algasir was purchased by F. Ambrose Clark for $106,000.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 15:05 (CET).