Morgan Stanley facts for kids
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Headquarters at 1585 Broadway
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| Public | |
| Traded as |
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| Industry | Financial services |
| Founded |
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| Founder |
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| Headquarters | Morgan Stanley Building New York City, New York, U.S. |
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Area served
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International service |
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Key people
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| Products |
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| Revenue |  US$54.1 billion (2023) |
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Operating income
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 US$11.8 billion (2023) |
| US$9.1 billion (2023) |
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| AUM | US$1.46 trillion (2023) |
| Total assets | US$1.19 trillion (2023) |
| Total equity | US$100.0 billion (2023) |
| Owner | MUFG (21.6%) |
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Number of employees
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80,006 (2023) |
| Subsidiaries |
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| Capital ratio | 15.2% (2023) |
Morgan Stanley is a big American company that helps people and businesses with their money. It's like a financial expert for large companies, governments, and even individuals. Their main office is in New York City.
Morgan Stanley has offices in 41 countries and employs over 75,000 people. In 2023, it was ranked among the largest companies in the United States by total money earned.
The first Morgan Stanley company started on September 16, 1935. It was created by Henry Sturgis Morgan and Harold Stanley, along with others. This happened because a new law, the Glass–Steagall Act, said that banks couldn't do both regular banking and investment banking at the same time.
The Morgan Stanley you see today is the result of a merger in 1997. The original Morgan Stanley joined with another company called Dean Witter Discover & Co.. The combined company later changed its name back to "Morgan Stanley" in 2001. Today, Morgan Stanley mainly focuses on helping big organizations with investments, managing people's wealth, and handling investments.
Contents
What Morgan Stanley Does
Morgan Stanley is a financial services company. It helps institutions, governments, and individuals manage their money. They also help businesses raise money and trade investments.
The company works in three main areas:
- Institutional Securities
- Wealth Management
- Investment Management
Morgan Stanley's Journey Through Time
How Morgan Stanley Began (1935–1997)
Morgan Stanley's story starts with J.P. Morgan & Co.. In 1933, the U.S. Congress passed a law called the Glass–Steagall Act. This law made it so banks could not do both regular banking and investment banking.
J.P. Morgan & Co. chose to focus on regular banking. So, some of their employees, like Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, left to start a new company. They teamed up with others to create Morgan Stanley.
The new firm officially opened on September 16, 1935, in New York City. In its early years, Morgan Stanley helped big companies like United States Steel Corporation raise money. They also helped with important U.S. rail financing in 1939.
From 1951 to 1961, Perry Hall led the company. During this time, Morgan Stanley helped the World Bank with bond offerings. They also helped large companies like General Motors, IBM, and AT&T with their financial needs.
In 1962, Morgan Stanley created one of the first computer models for financial analysis. This was a big step forward in how companies understood money. In 1967, they expanded into Europe and also started working in real estate.
Morgan Stanley After the Big Merger (1997–Today)
On February 5, 1997, Morgan Stanley merged with Dean Witter Discover & Co.. This company was originally part of Sears Roebuck. The new company was first called "Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Discover & Co."
Later, in 2001, the name was shortened to just "Morgan Stanley." After the merger, the company started to grow its business in other countries.
Morgan Stanley had many offices in the World Trade Center buildings. They were the biggest tenant there. Sadly, 13 employees were lost during the September 11 attacks in 2001. However, 2,687 employees were safely evacuated thanks to their Security Director, Rick Rescorla.
In 2003, the New York–Presbyterian Hospital named its children's hospital the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital. This was to thank the firm for its generous donations that helped build the hospital. Morgan Stanley employees had been involved with the hospital since the 1990s.
In 2006, Morgan Stanley decided to spin off its Discover Card unit. This means Discover became its own separate company.
During the subprime mortgage crisis around 2007-2008, many banks faced big problems. Morgan Stanley also had challenges. In 2007, the China Investment Corporation invested $5 billion to help Morgan Stanley.
In 2008, the United States Treasury asked Morgan Stanley for advice on how to help other struggling companies. Soon after, Morgan Stanley itself was at risk. Its stock price dropped a lot.
To stay strong, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs decided to become traditional bank holding companies. This meant they would be regulated by the Federal Reserve, just like regular banks. This was a big change for these investment banks.
On September 29, 2008, MUFG Bank, Japan's largest bank, invested $9 billion in Morgan Stanley. This gave MUFG a 21% ownership stake. This investment helped Morgan Stanley a lot during the financial crisis.
In 2009, Morgan Stanley bought Smith Barney from Citigroup. This created Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, which became the largest wealth management business in the world.
Morgan Stanley has continued to grow. In 2020, they bought E*Trade for $13 billion. In 2021, they acquired Eaton Vance. With these additions, Morgan Stanley now manages over $5.4 trillion in client assets.
How Morgan Stanley is Organized
Morgan Stanley has three main parts that work together:
Institutional Securities Group
| Business unit | share |
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| Wealth Management | 48.5% |
| Institutional Securities | 42.6% |
| Investment Management | 9.9% |
| Intersegment Eliminations | -1.0% |
This part of Morgan Stanley helps large organizations like companies and governments. They provide investment banking services. This means they help companies raise money by selling stocks or bonds. They also give financial advice, for example, when companies want to merge or buy other companies.
This group also includes trading stocks and bonds. Trading is a very important part of the company's business.
Wealth Management
This group helps individuals, especially those with a lot of money, manage their finances. They offer services like stockbrokerage and investment advice. They help clients plan their financial future and make smart investment choices.
In 2009, this group merged with Citi's Smith Barney to form Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. Morgan Stanley gradually bought more of this joint venture. By 2013, Morgan Stanley owned all of Smith Barney.
In 2019, Morgan Stanley bought Solium Capital. This company helps employees manage their stock plans. In 2020, Morgan Stanley also completed its purchase of E*Trade. This was a very large acquisition for the bank.
Investment Management
This part of Morgan Stanley manages money for different types of clients. These clients include pension plans, corporations, and non-profit organizations. They invest money in various ways, such as stocks, bonds, and real estate.
Until 2009, Morgan Stanley's asset management was known by the Morgan Stanley and Van Kampen brands. In 2009, Morgan Stanley sold Van Kampen but kept its own brand.
In 2018, Morgan Stanley bought Mesa West. This company specializes in real estate loans. In 2021, Morgan Stanley completed its acquisition of Eaton Vance. With Eaton Vance, Morgan Stanley now manages a huge amount of money for its clients.
Who Owns Morgan Stanley?
Morgan Stanley is mostly owned by large investment groups. These groups own about 60% of the company's shares. The biggest owner is Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) from Japan.
Here are some of the largest owners:
- Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (23.06%)
- State Street Corporation (6.97%)
- The Vanguard Group (6.67%)
- BlackRock (5.53%)
- JP Morgan Chase (3.67%)
Awards and Recognitions
Morgan Stanley has received many awards for its work and as a great place to work.
- In 2020, it was named IFR's Bank of the Year.
- In 2021, Euromoney named Morgan Stanley the best investment bank in the world.
- Fast Company listed Morgan Stanley as one of the Best Workplaces for Innovators in 2020 and 2021.
- In 2007, Great Place to Work Institute Japan ranked Morgan Stanley as the second best company to work for in Japan.
- The Times listed Morgan Stanley among the top companies to work for in 2006.
- Working Mother magazine named Morgan Stanley one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers in 2004.
Leaders of Morgan Stanley
The person in charge of Morgan Stanley has been called "president" or "chief executive officer" (CEO).
- Harold Stanley (1935–1951)
- Perry Hall (1951–1961)
- Samuel B. Payne (1970–1971)
- Chester H. Lasell (1971–1972)
- Robert H. B. Baldwin (1973–1982)
- S. Parker Gilbert (1983–1984)
- Richard B. Fisher (1984–1997)
- Phil Purcell (1997–2005)
- John Mack (2005–2009)
- James P. Gorman (2009–2023)
- Ted Pick (2024–present)
Where Morgan Stanley's Main Offices Are Located
Morgan Stanley has its main world headquarters in New York City. Its European headquarters are in London, England. For Asia Pacific, the main offices are in Hong Kong and Tokyo, Japan. The Canadian headquarters are in Toronto.
Notable People Who Worked at Morgan Stanley
Many successful people have worked at Morgan Stanley before moving on to other important roles.
- Dan Ammann, former President of General Motors.
- Barton Biggs, a well-known hedge fund manager.
- Erskine Bowles, who was Chief of Staff for President Clinton.
- Bob Diamond, former CEO of Barclays bank.
- Richard B. Fisher, chairman of Rockefeller University.
- Mary Meeker, a famous investor and founder of Bond Capital.
- Vikram Pandit, former CEO of Citigroup.
- Ruth Porat, Chief Financial Officer of Alphabet Inc. (Google's parent company).
- Steven Rattner, a private equity manager.
- Bjarne Stroustrup, the person who created the C++ programming language.
- Thomas O. Staggs, former COO and CFO of Disney.
Images for kids
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Morgan Stanley's headquarters in Times Square, New York City.
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- Dean Witter Reynolds
- Discover Card
- MSCI
- Van Kampen Funds
- Metalmark Capital, formerly Morgan Stanley Capital Partners
- Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, a joint venture with Citigroup
