Charles Duke, III

Charles Duke, III is the Managing Principal for Moss Waters, LLC., a consulting firm focused on succession and market growth. He specializes in evaluating leadership behaviors and aligning resources with strategic goals to enhance succession planning and drive organizational success. With over 30 years of experience, Charles adeptly navigates the complexities of business transitions, ensuring partner cohesion and aligning owners’ visions with business objectives. A results-driven leader, he guides owners through diverse economic cycles, from external sales to family transitions and management buyouts. Charles is passionate about collaborating with leadership to assess Operations, including strategic plans, roles and responsibilities, and performance management; Equity, including capital strategy, transition options, and value drivers; and Governance, including decision-making and conflict resolution, accountability and oversight, and business continuity. He serves professional services firms, such as wealth management firms and law firms, and family-owned businesses.

Prior to founding Moss Waters, Charles spent over 25 years at Elliott Davis, LLC where he was a management team member and board member and served as Consulting Practice Leader. He helped the organization scale and grow rapidly from a local accounting firm to big regional tax, audit, and consulting firm. He has significant experience in collaborating with others to identify opportunities for growth and resolutions to economic and industry challenges. As Consulting Practice Leader his efforts were focused on developing the consulting practice by identifying new services and solutions that met the ever-growing economic and operational challenges of customers to execute smart, efficient, and profit-generating solutions. Charles also provided interim C-suite leadership to clients as a management consultant, guiding them through strategic initiatives, enterprise transformation, and change management to drive long-term growth. Charles was also a vice president of a venture capital firm where he participated in all areas of the deal process, including thesis ideation, sourcing, execution, and portfolio management. He also served as a commercial banker at one of the nation’s largest banks.