When the Morgan Stanley’s “Group of Eight” was formed at a former colleague’s funeral, its main objective was to put pressure on the company’s former chief executive Phil Purcell (who stepped down as chairman and CEO last week) by saying he was to blame for the bank’s decline, reports Newsweek magazine in its June 27 issue.
The issue aims to give insights into the events that led up to the 61-year-old’s resignation, as well as speculating as to who is successor may be. “Former Morgan executive John Mack is an obvious candidate to replace Purcell, but one of the first things the company did after announcing Purcell’s departure was to say that Mack wouldn’t be considered,” the magazine reports. “A spokesman for Morgan wouldn’t comment on why, but Mack has told one Wall Street executive that he believes many directors continue to hold a grudge over his acrimonious departure in 2001the board has been criticized for disqualifying Mack before the search began, and since then some directors may have softened their resistance, according to an executive with knowledge of the board’s deliberations.”
Although many still consider the leading candidate to replace Purcell to be Laurence Fink, the founder and CEO of Blackrock, a money-management firm. But Newsweek reports that two friends of Fink say he might not want the position and will decide within the next week what to do.