Morgan Stanley
Leadership History
4 leaders · 1997 to present
Ted Pick is the CEO of Morgan Stanley, in the role since 2024. The first chief executive was Philip J. Purcell, from 1997.
| Name | Role | From | To | Years in role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ted Pick | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | 2024 | Present | 2 |
| James Gorman | Former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | 2010 | 2023 | 13 |
| John J. Mack | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | 2005 | 2009 | 4 |
| Philip J. Purcell | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | 1997 | 2005 | 8 |
Morgan Stanley is a global investment bank and wealth manager headquartered at 1585 Broadway in New York. It is listed on the NYSE as MS, employed about 83,000 people in 42 countries at the end of 2025, and is led by Chairman and CEO Ted Pick. Its business spans Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management. The company is headquartered in New York City, New York. The Wall Street investment banking and wealth management powerhouse was founded in September 1935 in New York City by Henry Sturgis Morgan and Harold Stanley following the Glass-Steagall Act, which forced the separation of commercial banking from investment banking at J.P. Morgan & Co.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
2024 – Present
2 years (current)
Ted Pick, a longtime head of Institutional Securities, became CEO on January 1, 2024 and added the chairman role in January 2025. He has focused on integrating the institutional and wealth businesses and growing client assets.
Under Pick, Morgan Stanley reported record 2025 net revenues of $70.6B and record Q2 2026 results.
Former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
2010 – 2023
13 years
James Gorman led the post-2008 shift to wealth management, completing the Smith Barney purchase and later buying E*TRADE (2020) and Eaton Vance (2021).
Gorman's tenure moved Morgan Stanley toward recurring fee revenue. He became executive chairman after stepping down as CEO and left the board at the end of 2024.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
2005 – 2009
4 years
Mack returned to Morgan Stanley as chief executive in June 2005 and led it through the 2008 financial crisis, when it became a bank holding company and took an investment from Mitsubishi UFJ.
He agreed the Smith Barney joint venture with Citigroup in 2009. James Gorman succeeded him as chief executive at the start of 2010.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
1997 – 2005
8 years
Purcell, who had led Dean Witter Discover, became chief executive of the merged Morgan Stanley Dean Witter in 1997.
A group of former executives campaigned against him in 2005 and he resigned that June. John Mack succeeded him.
Morgan Stanley faces capital markets cyclicality, trading volatility, interest-rate sensitivity, regulatory capital requirements, conduct and compliance risk, advisor retention, wealth-management margin pressure, deposit and sweep pricing scrutiny, and competition from banks, brokers, asset managers, and fintech platforms.
Ted Pick was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Morgan Stanley effective January 1, 2024, having previously served as Co-President and Head of the Institutional Securities Group.
Joining Morgan Stanley in 1990, Ted Pick led Equity Capital Markets during the 2008 financial crisis, successfully restructured the firm's Fixed Income division, and headed Institutional Securities before becoming Co-President and ultimately CEO.
James P. Gorman served as CEO from 2010 to 2023, orchestrating a historic multi-decade transformation that built the world's premier wealth manager through the acquisitions of Smith Barney, E*TRADE, and Eaton Vance.
Notable past CEOs include John J. Mack (2005 to 2009, handling the 2008 financial crisis), Philip J. Purcell (1997 to 2005, following the Dean Witter Discover merger), and Richard B. Fisher (1984 to 1997).
James Gorman executed an exemplary succession process in 2023, working closely with the Board to select Ted Pick as CEO while retaining key internal leaders Andy Saperstein (Head of Wealth & Investment Management) and Dan Simkowitz (Co-President).
Ted Pick has focused on driving organic growth toward $10 trillion in client assets across Wealth and Asset Management, sustaining number-one rankings in global equities and M&A advisory, and advancing technology integration.
During the September 2008 liquidity crisis, CEO John Mack converted Morgan Stanley into a bank holding company and negotiated a vital $9 billion equity investment from Japan's MUFG, preserving the firm's independence.
Key executives include Co-Presidents Andy Saperstein and Dan Simkowitz, Chief Financial Officer Sharon Yeshaya, and Chief Legal Officer Eric Grossman.
Ted Pick was appointed CEO of Morgan Stanley in January 2024, succeeding James Gorman. Pick is a three-decade Morgan Stanley veteran who famously turned around the firm's struggling equities division after the 2008 financial crisis and later led the entire Institutional Securities division, balancing trading excellence with Gorman's wealth management juggernaut.
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