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Business consulting concentrates the characteristics of contemporary capitalism: entrepreneurial; “knowledge-intensive”; “Anglo-Saxon”; global. Commitment, competence, autonomy, project-based management and the celebration of change are said to be consultants’ core-values. Beyond the fussiness of the wording, different activities coexist: management; information technology; recruitment; public relations; etc. Combining statistical and ethnographical approaches, this paper investigates what these activities have in common. They require those professionals to be in a paradoxical position of domination upon their clients. Contrary to the meritocratic representation diffused by the consultants themselves, the paper demonstrates that their persuasion mainly relies on inherited social characteristics, especially their proximity to the business community, later certified by academic achievements.