Morgan Stanley pays CEO Ted Pick US$34 Million in first year leading bank

Morgan Stanley paid chief executive Ted Pick US$34 million (HK$265.2 million) for his first year leading the bank.

The firm said in a regulatory filing that 75 percent of Pick’s bonus will be deferred over three years and is subject to cancellation, while all of his deferred bonus will be in the form of equity awards. Pick’s pay as CEO compares with US$44 million for 2023, which included a US$20 million special bonus amid the company’s leadership transition.

“The compensation committee based its decision of Mr. Pick’s 2024 compensation on its assessment of his outstanding performance, including the successful completion of the leadership transition and the firm’s exceptional financial performance,” the bank said in the filing.

Pick, 56, took the reins from longtime CEO James Gorman a year ago, and added the chairman title last month. In tapping Pick, the New York-based firm turned to an executive credited with spurring a revival in its trading business after a perilous stretch during the 2008 financial crisis — a period when clients ditched Morgan Stanley and doubts about its ability to survive reverberated around Wall Street.

For his final year atop Morgan Stanley, Gorman was paid US$37 million.

Last month, Morgan Stanley announced fourth-quarter profit that more than doubled from a year earlier, boosted by trading revenue that came in well ahead of estimates on volatility tied to the US presidential election. The firm earned US$13.4 billion last year, a 47 percent increase, and its shares advanced 35 percent in 2024.

Morgan Stanley follows other big US financial firms in announcing CEO compensation for 2024. Last week, Bank of America said it boosted CEO Brian Moynihan’s pay to US$35 million for 2024. JPMorgan Chase, increased CEO Jamie Dimon’s compensation to US$39 million for the year, while Goldman Sachs also paid its leader, David Solomon, US$39 million for his work in 2024.

Bloomberg