In response to her part in having to write off $3.7 million by Morgan Stanley (MS) in relationship to the subprime mortgage crisis, Zoe Cruz has announced she's retiring from the company.
"Zoe clearly is accepting responsibility for the trading disappointment in the fourth quarter," said Brad Hintz, analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.
Cruz had been co-president of the investment bank with Robert Scully, who is going to be part of a newly created Office of the Chairman. The new co-presidents will be James Gorman and Walid Chammah.
With her $30 million salary in 2006, Cruz had been named the highest paid female executive by Fortune. She was also the lead candidate to succeed CEO John Mack.
This retirement is a little puzzling in that sources had said on November 9 that Cruz was the top candidate for CEO. That was two days after the write-downs were announced. Obviously something internal happened with Cruz; either personally or in the company - surely originating from outside pressures.
Cruz, 52, has been with Morgan Stanley since 1982.
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