As I'm sure many of you have by now have already seen, 2021 was another terrific year in the face of the global pandemic, and as we'll talk about, the worst restructuring market in probably the last 15 years, we delivered another record year.
We've now had 7 years in a row of adjusted earnings per share growth.
7 years in a row in the face of COVID, fluctuating restructuring markets, turning around core strategies, expanding geographies, entering new adjacencies, lumpiness from big jobs coming or going, heightened competition, and attracting talent among lots of other challenges.
7 years in a row of growth in adjusted EPS, which is the easiest thing to measure, but also, to me, far more important in the underlying drivers of those financial results.
And if you want to underscore some of the negatives, we're making those bets at a time when our most profitable business, our restructuring business, is facing market demand that is lower than it's been in 15 years according to one measure and 20 years according to another measure.
Revenues of $2.78 billion increased $314.9 million from $2.46 billion in 2020.
GAAP earnings per share of $6.65 increased $0.98 from $5.67 in 2020.
Adjusted earnings per share of $6.76 increased $0.77 from $5.99 in 2020 and adjusted EBITDA of $354 million was up $21.7 million from $332.3 million in 2020.
Our record performance this year is primarily because of 12.8% revenue growth, once again demonstrating how beneficial it is to have the breadth of our service offerings.
Our total headcount increased 7.3% year over year on top of the 13.5% increase in total headcount in 2020.
For the quarter, revenue of $676.2 million increased $49.7 million or 7.9%, with revenues increasing across all business segments compared to the fourth quarter of 2020.
GAAP earnings per share of $1.07, compared to $1.57 in the prior-year quarter.
Adjusted earnings per share of $1.13, which excludes $0.06 of noncash interest expense related to our 2023 convertible notes, compared to adjusted earnings per share of $1.61 in the prior-year quarter.
Of note, the fourth quarter of 2020 included a significant tax benefit resulting from the use of foreign tax credits in the U.S. and a deferred tax benefit arising from an intellectual property license agreement between our U.S. and U.K. subsidiaries, which boosted both fourth quarter of 2020 GAAP and adjusted earnings per share by $0.32.
Net income of $38.2 million, compared to $55.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Adjusted EBITDA of $62 million, compared to $82.3 million in the prior-year quarter.
In corporate finance and restructuring, revenues of $231.5 million increased 5.3% compared to Q4 of 2020.
Business transformation and transactions represented 62%, while restructuring represented 38% of segment revenues this quarter.
This compares to business transformation and transactions representing 44% and restructuring representing 56% of segment revenues in the prior-year quarter.
As business transformation and transactions grew 50%, while restructuring revenues declined 27%.
Adjusted segment EBITDA of $22.2 million or 9.6% of segment revenues, compared to $35.4 million or 16.1% of segment revenues in the prior-year quarter.
In FLC, revenues of $138 million increased 8.5% compared to the prior-year quarter.
Adjusted segment EBITDA of $8.5 million or 6.2% of segment revenues, compared to $7.6 million or 6% of segment revenues in the prior-year quarter.
Economic consulting's revenues of $172.3 million increased 7.4% compared to Q4 of 2020.
Non-M&A-related antitrust services represented 33% and M&A-related antitrust services represented 20% of total segment revenues for the fourth quarter.
Adjusted segment EBITDA of $30 million or 17.4% of segment revenues, compared to $31.3 million or 19.5% of segment revenues in the prior year quarter.
In technology, revenues of $64.6 million increased 10.2% compared to Q4 of 2020.
Adjusted segment EBITDA of $7.8 million or 12.1% of segment revenues, compared to $10.2 million or 17.3% of segment revenues in the prior-year quarter.
This decrease was primarily due to higher compensation, which includes an increase in variable compensation and the impact of a 14.7% increase in billable headcount, as well as higher SG&A expenses.
Lastly, in strategic communications, revenues of $69.9 million increased 15.5% compared to Q4 of 2020.
Adjusted segment EBITDA of $14.9 million or 21.4% of segment revenues, compared to $11.7 million or 19.4% of segment revenues in the prior-year quarter.
Net cash provided by operating activities of $355.5 million, compared to $327.1 million in the prior year.
Free cash flow of $286.9 million in 2021, compared to $292.2 million in 2020, primarily due to an increase in net cash used for purchases of property and equipment, which includes capital expenditures related to our new office in New York City.
For the full year 2021, we repurchased 422,000 shares at an average price of $109.37, for a total cost of $46.1 million.
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year were $494 million -- $494.5 million.
Total debt net of cash of negative $178.2 million on December 31, 2021, decreased $199.5 million compared to December 31, 2020.
We estimate that revenues for 2022 will be between $2.92 billion and $3.045 billion.
We expect our earnings per share to range between $6.40 and $7.20.
Moody's trailing 12-month global default rate for speculative-grade corporate issuers was 1.7% as of the end of 2021, down from 6.9% in December of 2020.
Moody's is currently forecasting that this rate will fall to a bottom of 1.5% in Q2 of 2022 and will gradually rise to 2.4% by the end of 2022.
We currently expect our full year 2022 tax rate to range between 22% and 25%, which compares to 21.1% in 2021.

Summary:
For the quarter, revenue of $676.2 million increased $49.7 million or 7.9%, with revenues increasing across all business segments compared to the fourth quarter of 2020.
GAAP earnings per share of $1.07, compared to $1.57 in the prior-year quarter.
Adjusted earnings per share of $1.13, which excludes $0.06 of noncash interest expense related to our 2023 convertible notes, compared to adjusted earnings per share of $1.61 in the prior-year quarter.
We estimate that revenues for 2022 will be between $2.92 billion and $3.045 billion.
We expect our earnings per share to range between $6.40 and $7.20.