We generated about $681 million in fee revenue, that was up 43% year over year.
Our diluted and adjusted diluted earnings per share was $1.54 and $1.59, respectively, and those were also new highs.
We're now up 32% compared to the quarter preceding the pandemic, which at that time was an all-time high, and we haven't just talked about it we've walked it.
We developed over 1 million professionals a year.
Elements of our strategy include driving a top-down go-to-market approach based on our marquee and regional accounts, which year to date represent about 37% of our portfolio.
For example, on a year-to-date basis, about 28% of our revenue is driven by cross referrals within our firm, up several million dollars sequentially which demonstrates the effectiveness of our go-to-market strategy.
150,000 professionals around the world have used Advance, both as individuals and as part of their professional development journeys with their employers.
And as I stand here today, after 10 years, looking at the business we built, the data, the assets, the solutions, and most of all, the incredibly talented colleagues we have to serve our clients, it's pretty clear to me that I underestimated our true potential.
Fee revenue, as Gary indicated, was $681 million.
That's up $205 million or 43% year over year.
However, in the current year, fee revenue was actually up $41 million or 6% sequentially.
By line of business, fee revenue growth for executive search was up 42% year over year, while RPO and professional search was up 98%.
Year-over-year growth for consulting and digital was also very strong at 20% and 19%, respectively.
Adjusted EBITDA grew $42 million or 43% year over year to $138 million with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 20.3%.
If you go back and you look at the first three quarters of fiscal '20, that's right before the pandemic recession hit, our adjusted EBITDA is up 71% and it's actually grown two and a half times faster than our fee revenue has grown.
Our adjusted fully diluted earnings per share also advanced to a new high in the quarter, improving to $1.59 per share, which was actually up $0.64 year over year.
New business was also very strong in the third quarter, up 30% year over year, reaching a new quarterly high.
Of particular note, growth in our RPO new business was very strong at $135 million of new contract awards, and that's the second consecutive quarter they achieved that level.
At the end of the third quarter, cash and marketable securities totaled about $1.1 billion.
Now if you exclude amounts reserved for deferred compensation arrangements and accrued bonuses, our global investable cash balance was approximately $592 million, which is up $58 million or 11% year over year.
I would note that the investable cash position is net of $91 million that we used to acquire the Lucas Group on November 1 and about $22 million for share repurchases in the quarter.
In addition to investing in M&A and hiring of additional fee earners and execution staff, we have repurchased approximately $55 million worth of our stock and have paid cash dividends of approximately $20 million so far in fiscal year '22.
Global fee revenue for KF Digital was $90.2 million in the third quarter, which was up 19% year over year.
Additionally, the subscription and licensing component of KF Digital fee revenue grew to $29 million in the third quarter, which was up 26% year over year and up 12% sequentially.
Globally, new business for KF Digital in the third quarter grew 8% year over year to $108 million, which was the fifth consecutive quarter over $100 million.
$39 million or 37% of the total digital new business in the third quarter was related to subscription and license sales.
Earnings and profitability remained strong with adjusted EBITDA of $28.1 million and a 31.2% adjusted EBITDA margin.
In the third quarter, Consulting generated $162.9 million of fee revenue, which was up approximately $27 million or 20% year over year.
Fee revenue growth continued to be broad-based across all solution areas and strong regionally in North America and EMEA, which were up 28% and 16%, respectively.
Consulting new business also reached a new high in the third quarter, growing approximately 10% year over year.
Regionally, new business growth in the third quarter was strongest in North America and EMEA, which were up 10% and 16%, respectively.
Adjusted EBITDA for Consulting in the third quarter was $28.6 million with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 17.5%.
Globally, fee revenue grew to $188.6 million, which was up 98% year over year and up approximately $38 million or 25% sequentially.
RPO fee revenue grew approximately 68% year over year and 3% sequentially, while professional search revenue was up approximately 150% year over year, and up 67% sequentially.
Revenue in the third quarter for the Lucas Group was approximately $33 million, which was up approximately 10% compared to the revenue for the three months preceding the acquisition.
Professional search new business was $93 million and RPO was awarded $135 million of new contracts, consisting of $74 million of renewals and extensions and $61 million of new logo work.
Adjusted EBITDA for RPO and professional search continued to scale with revenue improving to $44.1 million with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 23.4%.
Finally, in the third quarter, global fee revenue for executive search reached another new high of $239 million, which was up 42% year over year.
Growth was also broad-based with North America growing 44% year over year and EMEA and APAC growing 32% and 45%, respectively.
The total number of dedicated executive search consultants worldwide at the end of the third quarter was 581, just up 59 year over year and up 11 sequentially.
Annualized fee revenue production per consultant in the third quarter remained steady at $1.66 million.
And the number of new search assignments opened worldwide in the third quarter was up 37% year over year to 1,787.
In the third quarter, global executive search adjusted EBITDA grew approximately $66 million, which was up 24 -- grew to approximately $66 million, which was up $24 million year over year with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 27.5%.
With this in mind and assuming no new major pandemic-related lockdowns or further changes in worldwide geopolitical conditions, economic conditions, financial markets or foreign exchange rates, we expect our consolidated fee revenue in the fourth quarter to range from $670 million to $690 million and our consolidated adjusted diluted earnings per share to range from $1.49 to $1.63 per share and our GAAP diluted earnings per share to range from $1.44 per share to $1.60.

Summary:
Our diluted and adjusted diluted earnings per share was $1.54 and $1.59, respectively, and those were also new highs.
Our adjusted fully diluted earnings per share also advanced to a new high in the quarter, improving to $1.59 per share, which was actually up $0.64 year over year.
With this in mind and assuming no new major pandemic-related lockdowns or further changes in worldwide geopolitical conditions, economic conditions, financial markets or foreign exchange rates, we expect our consolidated fee revenue in the fourth quarter to range from $670 million to $690 million and our consolidated adjusted diluted earnings per share to range from $1.49 to $1.63 per share and our GAAP diluted earnings per share to range from $1.44 per share to $1.60.