Morgan Stanley

What does Morgan Stanley own?
Morgan Stanley owns a portfolio of financial services businesses including investment banking (M&A advisory, underwriting, trading), wealth management (brokerage, financial planning), and investment management (asset management). The company's major brands include Morgan Stanley (primary institutional and wealth management), E*TRADE (digital retail brokerage, acquired in 2020), and Eaton Vance (investment management, acquired in 2021). The firm manages approximately $8.2 trillion in total client assets.

Is Morgan Stanley publicly traded?
Yes, Morgan Stanley is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol MS. The company has a broad institutional and retail shareholder base with no single controlling shareholder. Major institutional shareholders include Vanguard Group, BlackRock, and State Street. The company is a constituent of the S&P 500 index.

Who founded Morgan Stanley?
Morgan Stanley was founded on September 16, 1935, by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley in New York City. The firm was established following the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, which required commercial banks to separate their investment banking operations. Henry S. Morgan was the grandson of J.P. Morgan, and the new firm continued the securities business that had been conducted within J.P. Morgan & Co.

Where is Morgan Stanley headquartered?
Morgan Stanley is headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. The company maintains major offices in London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and other global financial centers to serve its international client base across more than 40 countries.

What is Morgan Stanley's revenue?
Morgan Stanley reported FY2025 net revenues of $69.9 billion, up 13% from $61.8 billion in FY2024. Net income was $14.3 billion, with diluted EPS of $8.05 and ROTCE of 18.8%. For Q2 2026, net revenues were $18.0 billion, up 18% year over year, with net income of $3.8 billion and diluted EPS of $2.14.

Who is Morgan Stanley's CEO?
Ted Pick has served as CEO of Morgan Stanley since January 2024, succeeding James Gorman who became Executive Chairman. Pick previously served as Co-President and head of the Institutional Securities division. Under his leadership, the firm has reported record revenues in both FY2024 and FY2025, with Q2 2026 ROTCE of 20.3% exceeding the firm's medium-term target.

Is Morgan Stanley different from Goldman Sachs?
Yes, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are both leading investment banks but have different business models. Morgan Stanley has a larger wealth management business with approximately $8.2 trillion in total client assets, providing more stable, fee-based revenue compared to Goldman Sachs' more trading-intensive business mix. This difference in business composition has historically resulted in Morgan Stanley trading at higher valuation multiples relative to earnings.

Morgan Stanley was founded on September 16, 1935, by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley. The firm was established in the wake of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, which required commercial banks to separate their investment banking operations. Henry S. Morgan was the grandson of J.P. Morgan, and the new firm was created to continue the securities underwriting and advisory business that had been conducted within J.P. Morgan & Co.

In its early years, Morgan Stanley focused exclusively on securities underwriting for major corporations, establishing a reputation for handling the largest and most prestigious transactions. The firm underwrote major bond and equity offerings for corporations including General Motors, U.S. Steel, and AT&T, building relationships with the largest American companies.

Morgan Stanley remained a private partnership for decades, maintaining an exclusive focus on institutional clients and large corporations. The firm went public in 1986, becoming a publicly traded corporation and providing capital for expansion.

In 1997, Morgan Stanley merged with Dean Witter, Discover & Co. in a transaction valued at approximately $10 billion. Dean Witter was a major retail brokerage firm with millions of individual investor clients, and the merger gave Morgan Stanley a significant retail distribution network alongside its institutional business. The merged company was initially named Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co., later reverting to Morgan Stanley in 2001.

The 2008 financial crisis severely tested Morgan Stanley. The firm faced significant losses from mortgage-related securities and experienced a crisis of confidence in September 2008 when its stock fell sharply amid concerns about its stability. Morgan Stanley received $10 billion in TARP funds from the U.S. government and also received a $9 billion investment from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Japan's largest bank, which stabilized the firm. Morgan Stanley converted to a bank holding company in September 2008.

James Gorman became CEO in January 2010, succeeding John Mack. Gorman's tenure was defined by a strategic pivot toward wealth management and investment management as more stable revenue sources. The Smith Barney acquisition from Citigroup, completed in stages between 2009 and 2012, gave Morgan Stanley one of the largest wealth management businesses in the United States. Gorman continued the expansion with E*TRADE in 2020 for approximately $13 billion, adding approximately 5.2 million retail brokerage accounts and a digital trading platform, and Eaton Vance in 2021 for approximately $7 billion, adding approximately $500 billion in assets under management.

Ted Pick became CEO in January 2024, succeeding Gorman who became Executive Chairman. Pick, who had previously served as Co-President and head of the Institutional Securities division, led the firm to record revenues in both FY2024 and FY2025. Under Pick, the firm has emphasized its "Integrated Firm" strategy, leveraging relationships across institutional and wealth management segments to cross-sell services.

For FY2025, Morgan Stanley reported record net revenues of $69.9 billion, up 13% from $61.8 billion in FY2024. Net income was $14.3 billion, with diluted EPS of $8.05 and ROTCE of 18.8%. For Q2 2026, net revenues were $18.0 billion, up 18% year over year, with net income of $3.8 billion and diluted EPS of $2.14. The firm's Q2 2026 ROTCE was 20.3%, above the firm's medium-term target range of 15% to 17%.

Morgan Stanley has established sustainability and ESG initiatives focused on sustainable finance, environmental responsibility, and social impact. The company has committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2040 and has integrated ESG considerations across its business operations and investment strategies.

The firm's sustainable finance initiatives include leadership in green bond underwriting, ESG investment research, and sustainable investing solutions for clients. Morgan Stanley has been a major underwriter of green bonds and sustainability-linked loans, helping channel capital toward environmental and social projects. The firm has set a target of facilitating $1 trillion in sustainable finance transactions by 2030.

The Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing conducts research on ESG topics and provides thought leadership on sustainable investing trends. The institute publishes regular reports on climate risk, sustainable development, and the financial implications of ESG factors.

Environmental commitments include reducing the company's operational carbon footprint, increasing renewable energy usage in facilities, and implementing sustainable procurement practices. Morgan Stanley reports annually on its environmental performance through CDP disclosures.

Morgan Stanley is not a Certified B Corporation. The company's sustainability commitments are self-reported and verified through third-party frameworks including CDP and SBTi where applicable.

Social impact initiatives focus on community development, financial inclusion, and economic opportunity programs. The Morgan Stanley Foundation supports education, workforce development, and community revitalization programs. The firm's Alliance for Children's Mental Health focuses on addressing childhood mental health challenges.

Morgan Stanley has faced several significant regulatory and legal challenges:

2008 Financial Crisis Settlement (2016): Morgan Stanley reached a $3.2 billion settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice related to its mortgage-backed securities activities in the years leading up to the 2008 financial crisis. The settlement resolved claims that the firm had misrepresented the quality of residential mortgage-backed securities sold to investors.

Block Trading Settlement (2024): Morgan Stanley reached a settlement with the SEC and DOJ related to allegations that its equities trading desk had improperly shared information about pending block trades with certain clients before executing the trades. The firm paid approximately $249 million in penalties. The settlement included admissions of fact and agreements to enhance compliance procedures.

Data Security Incidents: Morgan Stanley has faced scrutiny over data security incidents, including a 2022 settlement with the SEC related to failures in safeguarding customer data. The firm agreed to pay a $35 million penalty over failures to properly dispose of hardware containing customer data over a period of several years.

Wealth Management Compliance: The firm's wealth management division has faced various regulatory actions related to supervisory failures, including cases where financial advisors were found to have engaged in unauthorized trading or misappropriation of client funds. Morgan Stanley has enhanced its supervisory and compliance systems in response.

Regulatory Capital Requirements: As a systemically important financial institution (SIFI), Morgan Stanley is subject to enhanced regulatory capital requirements, stress testing, and resolution planning under the Dodd-Frank Act. The firm maintains capital ratios above regulatory minimums but faces ongoing compliance costs associated with these requirements.