Morgan Stanley’s COO Jon Pruzan exits firm

MORGAN Stanley chief operating officer Jon Pruzan, a longtime lieutenant to James Gorman and once considered a potential candidate to succeed him as chief executive officer, is exiting the firm.

Pruzan, who’s leaving at the end of the month, departs after a 28-year run that included a six-year stint as chief financial officer – the public face of the firm to investors and analysts. The 54-year-old plans to pursue other opportunities, according to Gorman.

“He has been a trusted adviser to me for many years,” Gorman said in a message to staff on Monday (Jan 9). Pruzan “has had a seat at the table and a voice in the decision-making process for many of the key decisions that the firm has made over the past decade.”

His departure further narrows the list of potential successors to Gorman – a group that took shape with a major management shuffle in 2021, when four senior leaders were given new roles as they competed for the top spot. With Pruzan’s exit, that list has been whittled down to Ted Pick and Andy Saperstein, the New York-based firm’s co-presidents and CEO front-runners. Dan Simkowitz, the investment-management chief, is also in the running.

Gorman has been CEO since January 2010, a 13-year run in which the bank recovered from near calamity during the financial crisis, transforming itself into a business relying on the twin engines of the investment bank and wealth management.

Pruzan played a key role in the company’s recent acquisitions, some of the biggest for a US bank since the crisis, including those of E*Trade and Eaton Vance. BLOOMBERG