90-year-old Morgan Stanley broker arrested after shooting business partner

A 90-year-old Morgan Stanley broker has been accused of shooting a colleague multiple times in an Oklahoma City branch office, according to local news reports.

Police say Leonard Bernstein walked into the office last Thursday and shot Chris Bayouth, 61, several times before driving away. Bernstein was later arrested in a traffic stop and charged with shooting with intent to kill, police records show.

Witnesses told investigators that Bernstein and Bayouth had worked together for nine months and that the elderly man was handing his accounts to the younger business partner, a local news channel reported. It’s unclear what went wrong, police said.

Bayouth was rushed to a local hospital and is expected to survive.

Bernstein joined Morgan Stanley in 2021 after nine years with Wells Fargo Clearing Services, BrokerCheck records show. He first registered as a broker in 1994 with Morgan Stanley before moving to Citigroup Global markets in 2004. He returned to Morgan Stanley in 2007 and was part of a $1.1 billion team that moved to Wells Fargo in 2012.

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Bernstein’s BrokerCheck record shows no disciplinary actions, discharges or investor complains in his 28-year career.

He was terminated by Morgan Stanley on Friday, a spokesperson for the firm said.

“We are cooperating with the authorities and our thoughts are with our employee,” the spokesperson said.

Bayouth has been registered with the Oklahoma City branch office since 2009, and has been with Morgan Stanley since 1997. Before that, he spent two years with Capital West Securities and six years with Stifel.

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