Morgan Stanley said on Thursday that CEO Ted Pick would be its next chairman succeeding Gorman. James Gorman shall be the new chair, who has been tapped to head the board at Walt Disney after he steps down as executive chair of the Wall Street titan Morgan Stanley at the end of the year (2024).
Gorman will also retire from employment at Morgan Stanley and be named chairman emeritus, as per the statement. However, he will serve as non-employee adviser to the bank from January 2025 through the end of 2026.
Ted Pick as Morgan Stanley’s new chairman
“I am confident that with Ted’s tremendous leadership Morgan Stanley will continue its strong trajectory to even greater heights and new successes in the years ahead,” James Gorman said in a statement.
Although he’s relatively new to the CEO seat, he has certainly been with the company for a long time. There was a lot of vetting that took place to put him into the CEO role and, by all measures, so far he has continued in the footsteps of Gorman, financial services analyst at Argus Research, Stephen Biggar said.
Morgan Stanley’s consolidation of roles
The bank is upholding a Wall Street tradition by consolidating the roles of CEO and chair. This is a practice that has at times come under fire for potentially concentrating too much power in a single individual.
Supporters, however, argue that such consolidation leads to quicker decision-making. The lead independent director of the board can offer sufficient oversight to ensure accountability, they say.
Ted Pick new chair
Pick took over from Gorman as CEO at the start of the year and is fresh off the bank’s best earnings-day performance after reporting results earlier this month that exceeded expectations.
Pick joined Morgan Stanley in 1990 and ran equity capital markets during the financial crisis. He was appointed head of sales and trading in 2015.
Earlier this week, Disney said that James Gorman would become chairman of its board on January 2.
Stock update
Morgan Stanley’s share closed at a price of $119.17 up 0.75% today. Under Pick, the Morgan Stanley stock has climbed 27.8% this year.
