James Patrick Gorman (born July 14, 1958) is an Australian-American businessman and financier. He is Chairman Emeritus of

Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in 42 countries and more than 80,000 employees, the firm's clients in ...

. Prior to becoming Chairman Emeritus in January 2025, Gorman served as Executive Chairman from January to December 2024, CEO from January 2010 until December 2023 and Chairman from January 2012 until December 2023. He joined the firm in February 2006 and was named Co-President in December 2007. Since January 2, 2025, he has been the Chairman of

the Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

Early life and education

Gorman was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. His family had an Irish background. His father R. Kevin Gorman worked as an engineer and headed an engineering consulting company in Melbourne. He was the sixth of 10 children; his siblings include former

Supreme Court of Victoria The Supreme Court of Victoria is the highest court in the Australian state of Victoria. Founded in 1852, it is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited and inherent jurisdiction within the state. The Supreme Court compri ...

judge Katharine Williams. Gorman was educated at Xavier College, a Catholic boarding school for boys in Melbourne. He then studied law at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

, where he earned his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

and

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

and was a residential member and president of Newman College. He moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to obtain a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

from

Columbia Business School Columbia Business School (CBS) is the business school of Columbia University, a Private university, private research university in New York City. Established in 1916, Columbia Business School is one of six Ivy League business schools and one of ...

, which he completed in 1987.

Career

Early career

In 1982 he joined the law firm Phillips Fox and Masel (now

DLA Piper DLA Piper is a law firm with offices in over 40 countries across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. It was founded in 2005 through the merger between three law firms: San Diego–based ''Gray Cary Ware & Freiden ...

). After graduating from Columbia Business School in New York City in 1987, he joined

McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company (informally McKinsey or McK) is an American multinational strategy and management consulting firm that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. Founded in 1926 by James O. McKinse ...

and eventually became a senior partner in the firm's financial services practice. At McKinsey he worked on the Merrill Lynch account for ten years, and helped develop Merrill's online internet strategy. In 1999, he joined

Merrill Lynch Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, doing business as Merrill, and previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investm ...

in the newly created role of chief marketing officer. He also joined the 19-member executive management committee. Within two years, he was in charge of Merrill's brokerage business.

Morgan Stanley

Gorman left Merrill Lynch in February 2006 to join

as the president and

chief operating officer A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the C ...

of the Global Wealth Management Group (GWMG). In October 2007, Gorman took on the additional role of co-head of strategic planning with CFO Colm Kelleher. In December 2007, he was named co-president of Morgan Stanley, along with Walid Chammah, with Gorman overseeing wealth management and asset management and Chammah overseeing institutional securities. In 2009, he helped create the largest wealth management platform globally when he led the merger and integration of Morgan Stanley's wealth management business with Citi's Smith Barney business. Structured as a staggered acquisition, Morgan Stanley purchased the remaining 35% of the Smith Barney business in June 2013, and became a global leader in wealth management with over 16,000 financial advisors and $1.8 trillion in client assets. In September 2009, it was announced that Gorman would become CEO of Morgan Stanley in January 2010. He assumed the additional title of chairman in January 2012 following the retirement of John J. Mack. In 2014 he was included in the 50 Most Influential ranking of ''

Bloomberg Markets ''Bloomberg Markets'' is a magazine published six times a year by Bloomberg L.P. as part of Bloomberg News. Aimed at global financial professionals, ''Bloomberg Markets'' publishes articles on the people and issues related to global financial m ...

'' Magazine. In January 2020, he was appointed an

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AO) that recognizes Australians who have demonstrated outstanding service or exceptional achievement. Gorman said he was "honoured to receive this award and extremely proud to represent Australia abroad", adding, "While most of my working life has been in the US my heart remains firmly Australian." In 2020, Morgan Stanley announced two multibillion-dollar acquisitions of E*trade Financial Corp. and Eaton Vance Corp. Gorman spoke at the November 2022 inaugural Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit. The Hong Kong Democracy Council claimed that his presence, along with other financial executives, legitimized the Hong Kong government's whitewashing of the erosion of freedoms in the city. Several members of

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

also warned that US financial executives should not attend the Summit, saying "Their presence only serves to legitimise the swift dismantling of Hong Kong's autonomy, free press and the rule of law by Hong Kong authorities acting along with the Chinese Communist Party." In May 2023, Gorman announced his forthcoming retirement as CEO of Morgan Stanley. He was succeeded as CEO by Ted Pick on January 1, 2024, while remaining executive chairman of the firm's board. In May 2024, Gorman announced he would retire as Chairman at the end of the year. On October 24, 2024, it was announced that CEO Ted Pick would succeed Gorman as Chairman.

The Walt Disney Company

In October 2024,

announced that Gorman would become its new chairman, starting on January 2, 2025.

Board memberships

Outside of Morgan Stanley, Gorman serves as a director of

, a director of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...

, chair of the board of overseers of the

, and is a member of the Business Council. He formerly served as a director of the

Federal Reserve Bank of New York The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States. It is responsible for the Second District of the Federal Reserve System, which encompasses the New York (state), State of New York, the 12 norther ...

, president of the Federal Advisory Council to the

U.S. Federal Reserve Board The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, commonly known as the Federal Reserve Board, is the main governing body of the Federal Reserve, Federal Reserve System. It is charged with overseeing the Federal Reserve Banks and with helping ...

, co-chairman of the Partnership for New York City, co-chairman the business committee of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, and chairman of the

Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association A security is a tradable financial asset. The term commonly refers to any form of financial instrument, but its legal definition varies by jurisdiction. In some countries and languages people commonly use the term "security" to refer to any for ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Personal life

Gorman passed the US citizenship test in 2004, and is a dual citizen of Australia and the United States. He lives in Manhattan and has two adult children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorman, James P. Australian chairpersons of corporations Australian expatriates in the United States Australian people of Irish descent Columbia Business School alumni Directors of Morgan Stanley Living people McKinsey & Company people Morgan Stanley employees People educated at Xavier College Businesspeople from Melbourne Melbourne Law School alumni 1958 births Federal Reserve Bank of New York Officers of the Order of Australia American chief executives of Fortune 500 companies Chairmen of The Walt Disney Company Directors of The Walt Disney Company