Morgan Stanley CEO Made $33 Million in 2020

Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman’s pay jumped 22% in 2020 to $33 million, making him the top-paid leader of a large U.S. bank, according to a regulatory filing.

Gorman’s total compensation includes $23.6 million in long-term awards (which depend on the bank hitting certain return on equity and shareholder return goals), a $7.88 million bonus, and a salary of $1.5 million.

This package puts him ahead of JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, whose pay remained unchanged for 2020 at $31.5 million.

For 2020, Morgan Stanley had a 22% increase in net income from the prior year at $11 billion. Total revenue rose 16% to $48.2 billion.

In 2019, Gorman saw his pay drop about 7% to $27 million, according to Bloomberg. The firm’s revenue and net income for the year both rose 3% from 2018, but Morgan Stanley opted to cut costs and eliminate about 1,500 positions.

Recent Performance

Firmwide, Morgan Stanley’s fourth-quarter revenue in 2020 jumped 24% to $5.7 billion, while its net income fell 10% to $802 million.

In the fourth quarter, the wealth unit had a 24% year-over-year increase in revenues to $10.96 billion, while net income dropped 10% to $889 million. For the full year, the business grew sales 7% from 2019 to $10.96 billion, as profits weakened 10% to $3.42 billion.

Morgan Stanley’s financial advisor headcount grew by 482 from a year ago and from 481 in the prior quarter to 15,950.

The wealth unit’s total client assets grew 48% year over year to $4 trillion in the fourth quarter, encompassing $832 billion in self-directed assets. Advisor-led assets rose 21% from a year ago and 15% from the prior quarter to nearly $3.2 trillion.

Despite challenges in 2020 from the COVID-19 pandemic, Morgan Stanley “delivered record results” last year, Gorman told analysts during a conference call last week.

The company “successfully closed our acquisition of E-Trade” in 2020, “received an upgrade from Moody’s to A2, were placed on review for upgrade a second time and announced our intent to acquire Eaton Vance,” he noted.

Although 2021 “will be a transition year as we absorb two major acquisitions, our focus remains on positioning Morgan Stanley to achieve our long-term strategic targets,” Gorman explained.

— Check out Morgan Stanley CEO Explains Thinking Behind Eaton Vance, E-Trade Deals on ThinkAdvisor.