James P. Gorman

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Richard Drew/AP/REX/Shutterstock (6232247a)

Morgan Stanley starts cost-cutting plan with CEO, slashes Gorman’s salary by 7%

Morgan Stanley just had its most profitable year on record. It wasn’t enough for its chief to land a raise.

James Gorman’s compensation fell as the firm announced he will receive $27 million for 2019, according to a regulatory filing Friday. That’s a 6.9% decline from the prior year and on par with the package the chief executive officer received in 2017.

The move is another signal that the New York-based bank is focused on keeping costs down. It recently embarked on a plan to cut 2% of its global workforce and this week elevated the fewest executives to managing directors since 2002. The firm has set an ambitious goal to boost its profitability metrics and slash the amount it spends to book every new dollar of revenue. It wants to push the so-called efficiency ratio to below 70% from 73% in 2019.

Source: Livemint