Morgan Stanley's Gorman will step down as chair by end of 2024

Morgan Stanley’s James Gorman, preparing to step down as the firm’s leader at the end of this year, said he will also vacate his post as chairman by the end of 2024.

“I’ll certainly stay most of the year, if not the whole year, but I won’t stay longer,” Gorman said Tuesday in an interview broadcast at the Global Management Dialogue forum hosted by Nikkei. He previously said he didn’t plan to stay “too long,” so that he could clear the way for chief executive officer-elect Ted Pick to make his mark on the Wall Street firm.

“It’s time for my successor to forge forth without me around and take this company to new levels,” Gorman said Tuesday. “It’s time for me after 14 long, hard years to find some other things to do in my life.”

Pick, a co-president and three-decade veteran of the firm, will be elevated to the top role in January and join the board, the bank announced in late October. Gorman will stay on as executive chairman, it said at the time.

The stock has gained more than 6% since the announcement, outpacing the S&P 500 Financials Index.

Gorman said Tuesday he would like to teach for a bit at a university, and help other CEOs turn around their businesses.

“I’d like to spend more time with my family both in the United States and in Australia,” he said. “And I’d like to play more golf.”

The banker also pushed back on the notion of entering politics, saying, “I don’t like sharks.”