James Gorman is approaching cost-cutting with the same focus as the Zodiac killer, so maybe. Read more »
James Gorman
Then we’ll see what’s what. Until then? Step off, bitch. Read more »
Wall Street Bank That Might Consider Entering The Witness Protection Program Screws Zoe Cruz Out Of A Job For The Second Time
By Bess Levin
How people smile when they're plotting cutting your brake lines.
Earlier this week, it was announced that Zoe Cruz would be closing her hedge fund, Voras Capital Management. Cruz started the fund in 2010, a few years after she was famously fired by John Mack at Morgan Stanley (where she was co-President), for reasons that remain unclear to this day but include theories like: a) the belief that she was responsible for losing the firm a few billion dollars b) a lot of people disliked her– including this guy named Vikram Pandit who was “not a fan“– and told Mack they would leave if he made Cruz CEO c) Mack had to blame either himself or Cruz for some losses and he chose her. d) She was, you know, a girl, and the boys didn’t like that. Regardless, the ousting was probably mildly to majorly humiliating for ZC and since Mack– who she was extremely close with prior to the personnel change– was the one who told her to hit the bricks, it would have been fair to assume she spent a least a little time fantasizing about sticking pins in a Mack voodoo doll and/or slashing his tires.
In 2009, though, Mack and Zoe had lunch and she told him she wanted to start a hedge fund. And maybe it was it was the fact that he was feeling nostalgic, maybe it was the fact that tragedy + time = comedy, maybe it was the fact that he was still riding high from “saving” Morgan Stanley, maybe it was the wine, maybe it was that he was feeling bad about the unceremonious canning and thought “Oh, why not just give the poor girl some money” but Mack went back to the office and “told bank executives that he would like to help her start her new investment business, according to people familiar with the matter.” And when they said, “But John, didn’t you fire her for supposedly taking on too much risk and losing the firm $4 billion,” he said “[Well], her track record was a very good track record.” So Morgan Stanley gave Cruz $20 million and she was on her way. And while we can’t say for sure, and we’re not suggesting money necessarily heals all wounds, the $20 million and the stamp of approval and the fact that she could say to investors she was trying to raise money from ,”Hey look, even the guy who fired me wants in” probably helped smooth things over and improve MS’s standing in the Cruz-missile’s eyes. She likely even had nice things to say about her former employer at social gatherings! And then this happened: Read more »
One More Peep Out Of Morgan Stanley Employees And Next Year’s Bonuses Will Be Determined By IQ Test (Results Posted In Lobby)
By Bess Levin
Gorman doesn’t fit the image of a Wall Street titan. Notwithstanding his $10.5 million pay package, he shows up at black-tie events in a rumpled tuxedo he bought as a business- school student in the 1980s. He keeps supplies of Vegemite — a favorite Australian food that’s made from yeast extract — in the executive kitchen and eats it on toast. He often walks home from his Times Square office to his Upper East Side townhouse and was spotted on one weekend in a track suit and sneakers waiting in line at the post office. The 6-foot-3-inch (1.9-meter), 195-pound (88-kilogram) Gorman’s favorite pastimes include reading John le Carre spy novels and taking boxing lessons weekly at his gym…Gorman is the sixth of 10 children born to Melbourne engineer Kevin Gorman. His father, now 90, was home-schooled until age 14 because he lived in the Australian outback, far from any town. Kevin Gorman once had each of his children take an IQ test, James says. He posted the results in the family’s living room, with each child’s score and expected occupation. James, whose sister is now a judge on the Supreme Court of Victoria, came in fifth — a result that relegated him to an expected job of “midlevel bureaucrat or manager,” he recalls. [Bloomberg, earlier]
Brian Moynihan Has Already Spent A Year Apologizing To Shareholders, Please Don’t Make Him Handle Another Confrontation
By Bess Levin
Earlier this week, in an interview with Bloomberg TV, Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman was asked how he would respond to employees expressing disappointment with this year’s bonuses. Perhaps at his wits end with compensation complaining, perhaps to indicate there is a new James Gorman in town and he is not to be fucked with, perhaps to get it through his staff’s thick skulls that they ought to WAKE UP, perhaps because he thinks the building is getting overcrowded, Gorman said he’d tell them three things: “You’re naive, read the newspaper, No. 1. No. 2, if you put your compensation in a one-year context to define your overall level of happiness, you have a problem which is much bigger than the job. And No. 3, if you’re really unhappy, just leave. I mean, life’s too short.” When asked the same question by the same organization today, Brian Moynihan was slightly less aggressive in his answer. I mean, he’d like you to stay but he’s not going to force anyone to do anything they’re not comfortable with. Don’t get him wrong he wants you to be there but please can we not have any intense discussions about it? Stay/go just please keep him out of it. The idea of you yelling at him makes his stomach turn. He can’t do it. He won’t. Read more »
As you may have heard, bonuses were announced at Morgan Stanley last week and while some employees here and there did okay for themselves, for the most part, people were not pleased with the fact that pay was down, on average by 20-30 percent. In fact, many were downright distraught, particularly among those who received zeros. As these things tend to go, a bunch of people have suggested they’ll be taking their talents elsewhere, where they’ll be appreciated and, at the very least, have made a point of sighing audibly around the office to express their disappointment. By now, though, hopefully everyone’s gotten everything out of their systems because one person who’s no longer interested in hearing it? James Gorman. The Morgan Stanley CEO appeared on Bloomberg TV this afternoon to get a few things off his chest and among them: 1) Those complaining should consider waking the fuck up 2) If you let money define your happiness, he feels sorry for you and 3) “If you are really unhappy, just leave.” Seriously, get the hell out here. Read more »
Which apparently represents a 9.5% drop from last year and “the lowest number of employees it promoted to that role since 2008,” lest anyone think Jim Gorman is fucking around. The era of cannolis and promotion free-for-alls is over. [WSJ, full list]
James Gorman: This Isn’t The End. No Way. We’re Gonna Show This Market A Thing Or Two.
By Bess Levin
“The stock price in no way reflects how well the firm is doing,” Gorman said last night at a private party for current and former Morgan Stanley executives. “We have a strategy in place, the market isn’t appreciating that yet.” [FBN]
Cuts occurring circa now, tomorrow. Read more »
In his tenure as CEO of Morgan Stanley, bonuses have been a bit of a sore spot for James Gorman. Last year he swore to god that he would “personally escort” anyone caught leaking numbers out of the building, earlier this month he was said to have suggested that things will be way, way down from last time around, and now? He can’t even look at you. Read more »
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Bonus Watch ’11: James Gorman Advises MD’s To Keep Their Expectation Low
By Bess Levin
Really low. Like lucky if you get a free cannoli low. Read more »
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