Amidst the news that Morgan Stanley will cut 10% of its institutional securities employees, you might have missed this: Cece Sutton, Wachovia’s former head of retail and small business banking and No. 33 on Most Powerful Women list this year, is moving to Morgan to be president of its new retail bank.
Pattie wrote about Sutton in September, just as Citigroup was poised to acquire Wachovia–before Wells Fargo swooped in with a better offer. Over a breakfast we had with Sutton shortly before that wild turn of events, we also talked about the prospect of Wachovia and Morgan combining. That was before any of us foresaw the end of Wall Street as we knew it. Turns out, Morgan and its ilk–Wall Street’s other survivor, Goldman Sachs –are now, in exchange for government support, becoming commercial banks.
Enter Sutton. Rather than wait to see where she’ll land in the new Wells-Wachovia combo, she’s opting to build a new retail bank operation at Morgan. It’s a big step for a Wachovia lifer who began as a clerk 30 years ago. But for a woman who thought she might someday run her dad’s heating and air-conditioning business, it’s the entrepreneurial thing to do. –Jessica Shambora