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Morgan Stanley Practically Beating Silicon Valley Off With A Stick

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Morgan Stanley, run by chief James Gorman, is rapidly becoming the go-to bank in the Valley, having landed the lead on a number of high-profile tech IPOs this year, including LinkedIn and Pandora. It has also signed on to head Groupon's expected public debut. Goldman, headed by CEO Lloyd Blankfein, is also on Zynga's underwriting team but will take a backseat to its longtime rival -- a position with which the bank is becoming all too familiar. Goldman's persuasive pitch for Zynga made for a close contest, and the company was almost swayed Goldman's way, sources said. But Morgan Stanley has a better network in the Valley to woo the tech darlings coming of age, according to venture-capital insiders. [NYP]

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