Morgan Stanley Chairman James Gorman speaks to Bloomberg TV in New York on January 3, 2024.
Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg
When James Gorman became CEO of Morgan Stanley, the investment banking giant was just 15 months removed from its near-death experience during the financial crisis.
In late September 2008, Morgan Stanley became a bank holding company to secure the necessary funds to prevent a market panic. The company will also soon receive a $10 billion capital injection from the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
At the height of the crisis, Australian-born Gorman was co-president of Morgan Stanley. Seizing the opportunity presented by the turmoil, he and then-CEO John Mack approached then-Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit and formed a joint venture with Citi’s Smith Barney division. I made a proposal to do so.
This was the first step in Mr. Gorman’s plan to make asset management a bigger part of Morgan Stanley’s business. He succeeded Mack as CEO in January 2010 and became chairman two years later.
Gorman plans to step down as chairman at the end of 2024 after stepping down as CEO earlier this year. Ted Pick, who succeeded Gorman as CEO, will become chairman on January 1, 2025.
The next day, Mr. Gorman becomes chairman of the Walt Disney Company. Mr. Gorman currently chairs the Disney Board of Directors’ Succession Planning Committee and, as Chairman of the Board, is responsible for finding a successor to Chief Executive Officer Robert Iger, whose contract expires in December 2026. It is expected to play an important role.
The following is an overview of key events during Mr. Gorman’s long tenure as head of the bank, including some of the moves that helped reshape Morgan Stanley’s business.
