摩根士丹利欢度Facebook IPO一周年

    差不多一年前这个时候，詹姆斯•戈尔曼正坐在摩根士丹利的交易室椅子上，戴着夹式麦克风，眼睛盯着摄像机。对于这位摩根士丹利（Morgan Stanley）CEO而言，这一天是Facebook IPO审判日。

    坐在他身旁的是CNBC电视频道主持人玛丽亚•巴蒂罗姆。这宗采访是几个星期前戈尔曼就答应下的，当时Facebook的IPO看起来还是前景一片大好，到头来却让人大跌眼镜。戈尔曼最终还是决定继续接受采访。但这个决定可能一开始就错了。灯光有问题。戈尔曼看起来并不自在。他毫无歉意，斗志旺盛。戈尔曼称那些在Facebook IPO中亏钱的个人投资者为“幼稚”。绝口不提摩根士丹利和Facebook在这宗IPO中大捞了一笔。

    困扰这位CEO还不只是Facebook。戈尔曼还面临着公司信用评级可能下调、与花旗集团（Citigroup）就美邦（Smith Barney）收购价格的争斗升级、以及经纪人不满加剧等挑战。很多观察人士曾经断言，用不了几个月，戈尔曼就会被扫地出门。

    事实并非如此。今年5月18日是Facebook IPO一周年。戈尔曼仍稳坐摩根士丹利头把交椅，而且现在看起来比过去任何时候都更有希望引领公司扭转局面。摩根士丹利股价在过去一年大涨81%，最近报价为25美元。

    很多顶级投资者近来都买入了该股，包括Wellington Management和T. Rowe Price。在上周一召开的年度股东大会上，摩根士丹利的高管薪酬计划和董事会重选方案几乎未遇任何阻力。与摩根大通（JPMorgan Chase）不同，在摩根士丹利从未有过拆分CEO与董事长职位的讨论。去年9月曾预测戈尔曼可能离职的里昂证券（CLSA）银行业分析师迈克•马尤，本周将摩根士丹利的估值上调至36美元，主要就是考虑到戈尔曼的利润增长计划。

    “他在美邦的收购和执行过程中表现出色，信用评级问题很快得到了解决，”前摩根士丹利CEO麦晋桁（John Mack）表示，“我给他打高分，这些市场不容易驾驭。”

    戈尔曼一年前面临的每个大问题几乎都已按摩根士丹利的方式解决了。

    戈尔曼说服穆迪（Moody's）将摩根士丹利的债券评级下调两档，而不是预计的3档，为公司节约了近30亿美元。而且，戈尔曼也迫使公司的银行家和交易员抛出高风险资产。结果是，现在投资者对于摩根士丹利的债券比一年前下调评级前更感到安心。如今，1,000万美元的摩根士丹利债券5年保费只需119,000美元，大大低于1年前的451,650美元。

    Nearly a year ago, James Gorman sat in a chair on his firm's trading floor, clipped on a microphone and stared into a camera. For Morgan Stanley's CEO, it was Facebook judgment day.

    Next to him was CNBC's Maria Bartiromo. Gorman had agreed to the interview weeks before, back when the Facebook IPO still looked like it was going to be blockbuster, not the bust it turned out to be. But Gorman decided to go ahead with the interview anyway. From the moment it started, though, it was apparent he shouldn't have. The lighting was bad. Gorman looked uncomfortable. He was unapologetic and combative. Gorman called individual investors who had lost money on the IPO "naive." Never mind the fact that Morgan Stanley and Facebook (FB) had made a killing on the deal.

    But it wasn't just the fallout from Facebook that was dogging the CEO. Gorman was also facing a looming credit downgrade, an increasingly bitter fight with Citigroup (C) over the price of his Smith Barney acquisition and a growing revolt among the brokers that he was now being bullied into paying up for. A number of observers predicted Gorman would be out within a few months.

    But that's not what happened. May 18 will be the one-year anniversary of the Facebook IPO. Gorman still holds the top job at Morgan Stanley (MS) and now looks closer than ever to pulling off the turnaround many thought would allude him. Morgan Stanley's shares are up 81% in the past year to a recent $25.

    A number of top investors have been buying shares recently, including Wellington Management and T. Rowe Price (TROW). At its annual meeting on Monday, Morgan Stanley faced little opposition to its executive compensation plan, or the reelection of its board. And unlike at JPMorgan Chase (JPM), there has been no talk of splitting the CEO and chairman position. CLSA bank analyst Mike Mayo, who back in September said Gorman was likely to go, this week upped his estimate for the shares to $36 largely on Gorman's plan to boost the company's profits.

    "He's been brilliant on the acquisition and execution of Smith Barney, and the credit rating issue was solved quickly," says John Mack, who was the prior CEO of Morgan Stanley. "I give him high marks, and these are not easy markets to navigate."

    Nearly every big issue facing Gorman a year ago has gone Morgan Stanley's way.

    Gorman convinced Moody's to downgrade the company's debt rating two notches rather than an expected three, saving the bank nearly $3 billion. And Gorman has forced the firm's bankers and traders to sell off risky assets. The result is that investors are more comfortable with Morgan Stanley's debt than they were a year ago before the downgrade. It now costs $119,000 to insure $10 million of Morgan Stanley debt for five years. That's down from $451,650 a year ago.