Before we get into who owns Morgan Stanley (MS +2.86%), let's start with a little background information.
Morgan Stanley is one of the largest financial institutions in the United States. It is best known for its massive investment banking business. It advises on mergers and acquisitions (M&A), initial public offerings (IPOs), and underwrites debt and equity offerings. It facilitates trades for clients and its own capital accounts. It has the largest wealth management business in the world.
However, Morgan Stanley isn't just an investment bank. Along with fellow investment banking giant Goldman Sachs (GS +4.43%), it became a bank holding company during the 2008 financial crisis.
In addition to its investment banking activities, Morgan Stanley has a large consumer-facing business thanks to its 2020 acquisition of investment platform E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley.
NYSE: MS
Key Data Points
Who is the owner of Morgan Stanley?
Like most large financial institutions, Morgan Stanley's current form is the result of several business combinations over a long period of time.
The original Morgan Stanley was founded in 1935 by two J.P. Morgan partners to split the investment banking business as a result of the Glass-Steagall Act. Over the years, it has made some big acquisitions, particularly a 1997 merger with Dean Witter Discover. Other notable acquisitions include E*TRADE in 2020 and Eaton Vance in 2021.
Morgan Stanley remained a private company until the 1980, when its management decided it was the right time to go public. It has been a publicly traded company ever since, and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol MS.
Who Is on the board of directors for Morgan Stanley?
Morgan Stanley has a rather large board of directors, with 15 members. Here are the directors (and director nominees) for 2024, along with their respective experience and ownership in the bank's stock.
- Megan Butler is a nominee for Morgan Stanley's board, meaning that 2024 will be her first year if elected at the annual meeting (which is virtually certain). She is a former executive director of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the primary regulatory body for financial services in the U.K. She has not disclosed any ownership in the bank.
- Thomas Glocer has been on Morgan Stanley's board since 2013. He is managing partner of a venture capital firm and was previously CEO of Thomson Reuters. He owns 107,687 shares of Morgan Stanley.
- Former CEO and current Chairman James Gorman has been on the board since he was appointed company president in 2010. He owns or has the right to acquire 886,445 shares of the financial institution, a stake worth about $77 million as of April 2024.
- Robert Herz has been on Morgan Stanley's board since 2012. He is a longtime financial reporting consultant and has held several leadership positions on various regulatory councils. He owns 93,637 shares.
- Erika James was added to the board in 2022 and has been the dean of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania since 2020. She owns 7,207 shares of Morgan Stanley.
- Hironori Kamezawa has been a director since 2021 and is an executive at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Morgan Stanley's largest investor and partner. While his company owns more than 20% of Morgan Stanley, he doesn't directly own shares.
- Shelley Leibowitz has been a director since 2020, but previously served on the board of E*TRADE starting in 2014 until its 2020 acquisition by Morgan Stanley. She has previously held the chief information officer role at Morgan Stanley, as well as at World Bank and Barclays Capital (BCS +0.34%). She owns 43,442 shares.
- Stephen Luczo has been a director since 2019 and is the former longtime CEO of technology company Seagate. He has the largest ownership stake on the board, and his investment is discussed earlier.
- Jami Miscik has been on Morgan Stanley's board since 2014 and was CEO of consulting firm Kissinger Associates after a long career at the CIA, including a stretch as deputy director for intelligence. She owns 58,115 shares of Morgan Stanley.
- Masato Miyachi joined the board in 2022 and is a former executive of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Morgan Stanley's largest investor and partner. Like the other director from MUFG, he doesn't have a direct ownership position.
- Dennis Nally has been a director since 2016 and has more than four decades of financial regulatory and reporting leadership experience. He owns 38,666 shares.
- Edward Pick, Morgan Stanley's current CEO, joined the board when he took over the CEO role in January 2024. He owns 802,668 shares of Morgan Stanley.
- Mary Schapiro has been on the board since 2018 and has been chair of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the SEC, among other impressive regulatory roles throughout her career. She owns 32,750 shares of the company.
- Perry Traquina has been a director since 2015 and had a long career in investment management, including a decade as CEO of Wellington Management Company. He owns 77,272 shares.
- Rayford Wilkins, Jr. has been a board member since 2013 and is a former AT&T (T +2.21%) executive, with roles including CEO of AT&T's Diversified Businesses unit. He owns 69,539 shares.
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How to invest in Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is a publicly traded company with its shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol MS. To invest in the company, you can buy shares through any U.S. brokerage account.
Brokerage Account
If you don't have a brokerage account yet, you'll need to open one before you can buy shares of Morgan Stanley (or any other stock). Here are the basic steps to start buying stocks and invest in Morgan Stanley:
- Research some of the top online brokers and decide which is the best fit for you.
- Determine if you need a standard (taxable) brokerage account or if a retirement account like an individual retirement account (IRA) is better for your investing goals.
- Fill out the account application and provide identifying information like your Social Security number.
- Fund the new account, either via bank transfer, by mailing a check, or by using another method.
- Decide how much you want to invest in Morgan Stanley.
- Obtain a stock quote. You can do this through your new brokerage account or through a third-party site like CNBC or Yahoo! Finance.
- Divide the amount you want to invest by the current price. If your broker allows fractional share investing, this is the number of shares you'll buy. If not, round down to the nearest whole number.
- Decide if you want to make a market order or a limit order. The Motley Fool recommends a market order since it guarantees a fixed price.
- Use your broker's order form to place a buy order. This is usually prominently featured on the broker's home page after you log in.
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