Hunt on for new Morgan Stanley boss

JOCKEYING in the race to take over from Philip Purcell at the helm of Morgan Stanley - one of the most coveted jobs on Wall Street - has begun in earnest.

Board member Charles Knight, who is heading the search for a replacement chief executive, said none of the dissidents or their allies who pressured Purcell into going would be considered for the job.

Nor would the board look among the many executives who have recently left the bank.

Thomas Neff, of search firm Spencer Stuart, is compiling a shortlist. Copresidents for just two months, Zoe Cruz and Stephen Crawford, former heads of fixed-income and risk-management, respectively, are considered too inexperienced and the areas they previously oversaw are the bank's most problematic.

But there are not many outsiders with the qualifications for the job either. New York Stock Exchange chairman John Thain is one, but unlikely to leave the plum job he only recently took up.

Barclays Capital chief Bob Diamond, a former Morgan Stanley executive, has been named in some circles as a long shot, as has Merrill Lynch chief executive Stan O'Neal - but there would probably have to be a merger of the two banks for him to take the job.