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Gorman’s Goodbye: Inside a C.E.O. Succession Bake-Off

I talk to a lot of well-wired people inside Morgan Stanley all the time: here’s what’s going to happen next. Plus notes on succession planning inside my old stomping grounds: Lazard and JPMC.

james gorman
Morgan Stanley C.E.O. James Gorman has set up a ‘Succession’-like race to succeed him. Photo: Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images
William D. Cohan
May 24, 2023

During Morgan Stanley’s annual shareholders meeting, last Friday, C.E.O. James Gorman announced that he was leaving the job “sometime in the next 12 months” and that he would then become the firm’s executive chairman “for a period of time.” Notably, Gorman’s handling of the succession question at Morgan Stanley distinguishes him from his Wall Street rival, Jamie Dimon. Whereas Jamie has muddled the succession puzzle at JPMorgan Chase, Gorman has clarified it at Morgan Stanley, to his considerable credit. “An issue of paramount importance to shareholders, employees and clients is of course succession,” he told the annual meeting. “And, no, I’m not just talking about the TV series, and I definitely have no plans to go out like Logan Roy.”