Part 3 Chapter 31 Tombstones Summary and Analysis

Morgan Stanley leads the industry in stock and bond offerings in the mid 1970s. It grows on a yearly basis adding new areas of operations. It grows from two hundred employees to seventeen hundred and $7.5 million to $118 million. The firm grows very quickly. Baldwin's philosophy introduces a competitive nature that creates a tense atmosphere. Partners begin to leave for other firms.

Morgan Stanley always insists on being the sole manager on new issues so their name appears alone in the top left hand corner of tombstones. Tombstones are the newspaper announcements of new issues. They turn down managing new issues if the client insists on a co-manager. This policy begins to hurt them in the 1970s. In 1979 it comes to a head when IBM asks for Salomon Brothers to be co-managers on a $1 billion issue. Morgan Stanley...