(Bloomberg) – Morgan Stanley paid former boss James Gorman $27 million last year for his job as he handed CEO Reins to his successor Ted Pick.
Gorman, who held the company’s 14-year operating rights at the end of 2023, received a salary of $1.5 million, a cash bonus of $12.75 million and an additional $12.75 million in performance-based incentive compensation. That’s $10 million less than his 2023 shipping, the final year of his position as CEO. It also fits with the co-chairs that Andy Saperstein and Dan Simkowitz won last year.
Gorman’s salary last year exceeded the $725,000 John Dugan received as chairman of Citigroup Inc. in 2024. That also exceeded Wells Fargo & Co.’s $590,703, which paid Steve Black that year.
None of them has ever served as CEO, and it is not uncommon for executive benches to be more aligned with executives than other board members. Ajay Banga, who served as executive chairman of Mastercard Inc. in 2021, received $27.8 million in the previous year, his final year as CEO.
Morgan Stanley’s board considered factors including Gorman’s “successfully completed an orderly, years-long CEO succession planning process,” which was also cited in his salary decision for his top position last year. He also “assisted the CEO as a mentor, spoke out on the board and helped him prepare to become chairman of the board,” the document said.
Gorman took over Ins Rope at Morgan Stanley after nearly collapsed during the financial crisis and carried out years of engineering transformation of the company with its core wealth management. Pick took over early last year, and on Wall Street’s rarity, the other two job competitors – Saperstein and Simkowitz – agreed to keep going.
Pick won $34 million in his first year as CEO in early 2025.
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