Morgan Stanley taps Ted Pick as new CEO
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Ted Pick. Photo: Courtesy of Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley tapped Ted Pick to become its new CEO, handing the reins to a veteran who has worked at the Wall Street bank for more than three decades.
Why it matters: Pick succeeds James Gorman, who ran the bank for 14 years and transformed it into a wealth management behemoth.
Details: Morgan Stanley announced the choice late on Wednesday.
- Pick, 54, played a signifiant role in turning around the bank's trading business after the 2008 financial crisis. He's overseen both the capital markets and fixed income business within the bank.
- Currently a co-president, he will assume the CEO role on Jan. 1, 2024.
- The choice of Pick, a long-time investment banking pro, comes amid the bank's transformation into a wealth management leader. In an interview on CNBC, the incoming CEO pledged to stay the course.
- "The business strategy is sound. There will be no change in strategy," Pick told the network, in a joint interview with Gorman.
Flashback: Gorman signaled his plan to step down as CEO in May. At the time of his appointment in 2010, Australia-born Gorman's vision for building wealth management ran counter to the old-school Wall Street M&A and trading business the bank was built on.
- Morgan Stanley was a perenial second-place to Goldman Sachs' juggernaut investment banking business.
- Under Gorman and the wealth management build out, Morgan Stanley's value and quarterly earnings performance consistently soared past its Wall Street rival.
What they're saying: When asked by CNBC why Pick was the choice, Gorman quipped, "beats me?"
- He quickly praised Pick for being "an outstanding choice" who strengthened two major businesses within the bank, and how the two have worked side-by-side for at least a decade.
What we're watching: Whether Pick delivers on steering the ship toward the wealth management base its built, or if he pivots in the face of a shaky economy and rising market turmoil.
