Rumor: Top Morgan Stanley Banker & Gorman Rival To Leave Firm
Walid Chammah, co-president of Morgan Stanley along with incumbent chief executive James Gorman, is telling friends he intends to leave the bank, according to a Business Insider report:
Walid Chammah is telling people he is leaving Morgan Stanley, according to a person familiar with the matter.One caveat here: What's most odd about this story -- and likely makes it nothing other than a mere rumor for now -- is the suggestion that Chammah has been going around telling others he is leaving. In very senior finance positions such as this one, it is highly uncommon for bankers to discuss their potential departure openly to colleagues, no matter how frustrated they might be about any internal political situations at their place of employment.Chammah, who is co-president with James Gorman at the firm, has spoken to associates about his plans to leave. He is one of the highest ranking executives at the investment bank.
A spokesman for Morgan Stanley says that Chammah is definitely not leaving the bank.
Chammah, 53, has been with Morgan Stanley since 1993, when he left Chredit Suisse First Boston to become Morgan Stanley's head of U.S. Debt Capital Markets. In 1996, he was elevated to head the global debt captial markets business. Two years ago, he was named chairman and chief executive officer of the firm's operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
He was often cited as a possible successor to CEO John Mack. Now that Gorman has been named the next chief of Morgan Stanley, it appears that Chammah has decided to hang up his hat.
That said, there's usually no smoke without fire, so this may be yet more evidence that the firm is attempting to shift its focus away from riskier areas of the banking business, and transform itself into a more diversified financial services firm.
The hiring of Gorman for chief executive -- who has a background in financial strategy, private wealth management, and consulting -- is considered by many market watchers to be a signal that the bank is breaking away from the volatile, growth-oriented tenure of its last chief executive, John Mack, who hails from the bond trading floor.
Of course, given the type of landscape that investment banking is, Chammah's departure might also just come down to ego. But with his experience in the firm's leveraged finance, capital markets, and debt markets divisions, it is also likely that Chammah sees himself playing less of a role in a new, dramatically de-risked environment.