James P. Gorman

Morgan Stanley

Gorman left Merrill Lynch in February 2006 to join Morgan Stanley as the president and chief operating officer of the Global Wealth Management Group (GWMG). In October 2007, Gorman took on the additional role of co-head of strategic planning with CFO Colm Kelleher. In December 2007, he was named co-president of Morgan Stanley, along with Walid Chammah, with Gorman overseeing wealth management and asset management and Chammah overseeing institutional securities.

In 2009, he helped create the largest wealth management platform globally when he led the merger and integration of Morgan Stanley's wealth management business with Citi's Smith Barney business. Structured as a staggered acquisition, Morgan Stanley purchased the remaining 35% of the Smith Barney business in June 2013, and became a global leader in wealth management with over 16,000 financial advisors and $1.8 trillion in client assets.

In September 2009, it was announced that Gorman would become CEO of Morgan Stanley in January 2010. He assumed the additional title of chairman in January 2012 following the retirement of John J. Mack.

In 2014 he was included in the 50 Most Influential ranking of Bloomberg Markets Magazine.

In January 2020, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) that recognizes Australians who have demonstrated outstanding service or exceptional achievement. Gorman said he was "honoured to receive this award and extremely proud to represent Australia abroad", adding, "While most of my working life has been in the US my heart remains firmly Australian."

On June 16, 2020, Gorman, alongside Morgan Stanley and one of its Managing Directors, Barry Krouk, were sued by former Managing Director Marilyn Booker as part of a class action lawsuit alleging widespread racial and sexual discrimination. Booker alleged that this discrimination had worsened during Gorman's tenure as CEO, with Booker being dismissed from her position as Global Head of Diversity and being moved into a less prestigious division early on, which itself was eliminated only a year later; Booker further alleged that she was only able to stay due to former CEO John Mack advocating on her behalf. Booker was moved to a new division, the Urban Markets Group, which focused on advocating for fiscal responsibility in local minority communities. Its budget was consistently cut each year, and by 2019, it had dropped to only 71% of its 2011 value. This was accompanied by a noticeable drop in Black financial advisors working for the firm: as of 2019, 99% of its advisors were White, while only 0.63% were Black. Fourteen Black Managing Directors departed the firm between 2017 and 2019, with Booker alleging that this was caused by a culture of indifference toward minority employees. In May 2021, the lawsuit was settled on undisclosed terms.

In October 2020, Morgan Stanley announced two multibillion-dollar acquisitions of E*trade Financial Corp. and Eaton Vance Corp.

Gorman spoke at the November 2022 inaugural Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit. The Hong Kong Democracy Council claimed that his presence, along with other financial executives, legitimized the Hong Kong government's whitewashing of the erosion of freedoms in the city. Several members of Congress also warned that US financial executives should not attend the Summit, saying "Their presence only serves to legitimise the swift dismantling of Hong Kong's autonomy, free press and the rule of law by Hong Kong authorities acting along with the Chinese Communist Party."

In May 2023, Gorman announced his forthcoming retirement as CEO of Morgan Stanley. He was succeeded as CEO by Ted Pick on January 1, 2024, while remaining executive chairman of the firm's board. In May 2024, Gorman announced he would retire as Chairman at the end of the year. On October 24, 2024, it was announced that CEO Ted Pick would succeed Gorman as Chairman.

The Walt Disney Company

In October 2024, the Walt Disney Company announced that Gorman would become its new chairman, starting on January 2, 2025.