Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg
When James Gorman took over as CEO of Morgan Stanley, the investment banking giant was only 15 months removed from its near-death experience during the financial crisis.
In late September 2008, Morgan Stanley became a bank holding company in order to secure the funding it needed to stave off a market panic. The firm would also soon get a $10 billion capital infusion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
At the height of the crisis, the Australian-born Gorman was co-president of Morgan Stanley. He and then-CEO John Mack seized on the opportunity that the chaos presented, reaching out to then-Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit with an offer to form a joint venture with Citi’s Smith Barney unit.
It was the first step in Gorman’s plan to make wealth management a much bigger part of Morgan Stanley’s business. He took over for Mack as CEO in January 2010, and then became chairman two years later.
After stepping down as CEO at the start of this year, Gorman plans to retire as chairman at the end of 2024. Ted Pick,
The following day, Gorman will become chairman of The Walt Disney Company. Gorman is currently chairing the succession planning committee of Disney’s board, and as board chairman he’s expected to play a key role in finding a successor to CEO Robert Iger, whose contract expires in December 2026.
What follows is a look at key events during Gorman’s long tenure atop the bank, including several moves that helped reshape Morgan Stanley’s business.