Morgan Stanley’s Cruz the latest Wall Street chief shown the door
NEW YORK (AP) — Another high-powered Wall Street executive has been swept away by the continuing turmoil in the credit markets.
The latest to go is Zoe Cruz, the co-president at Morgan Stanley and one of the most powerful women in the financial world. Her ouster follows the recent exits of Stan O’Neal from Merrill Lynch and Citigroup’s Charles Prince.
Cruz’s departure comes after word that Morgan Stanley was taking a 3.7 billion dollar write-down in fourth-quarter losses due to the current credit and housing market crunches.
One senior analyst likens the current rolling of executive heads to captains going down with their ship, whether they are rising stars or not.
Cruz had been with Morgan Stanley for the past 25 years, and rose to her current title after former chief executive Philip Purcell promoted her in a move to consolidate power.
There had been expectations that John Mack, the current CEO, would at some point place someone else in the job.
He did that on Thursday, naming Walid A. Chammah and James P. Gorman as co-presidents. Chammah, 53, was named global head of investment banking in July, while Gorman, 49, runs the global wealth management group. E-mail to a friend
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