(Reuters) - Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Chief Operating Officer Jon Pruzan will retire from the bank at the end of the month, according to a memo seen by Reuters.
Formerly the finance chief at the Wall Street titan, Pruzan was made COO as part of a leadership shakeup in mid-2021, which resulted in four new appointments.
At the time, the bank's chief executive, James Gorman, said he was "highly confident" one of the four would be the bank's CEO in the future.
Investors have long been speculating about who would succeed Gorman, who joined the bank in 2006 and took over as CEO in 2010.
With Pruzan gone, the list of potential successors to Gorman include co-presidents Ted Pick and Andy Saperstein and investment management chief Dan Simkowitz.
The contents of the memo were confirmed by a spokesperson for the bank. Bloomberg News first reported Pruzan's exit.
(This story has been corrected to change first name of Morgan Stanley CEO to James from Jamie in paragraph 3)