New Year’s Eve is behind us, but if you hear the sound of bottles popping — it might be coming from the halls of Morgan Stanley’s headquarters.
The Wall Street bank on Wednesday announced the appointment of 184 new managing directors — a roughly 6% increase from last year’s class of 173 MDs.
At Morgan Stanley, managing director is the firm’s highest designation. The announcement comes amid the annual promotion season on Wall Street and follows Goldman Sachs’ November elevation of more than 600 managing directors, part of a biennial process at the rival firm.
The size of each of Morgan Stanley’s annual MD classes has fluctuated. In 2024, the bank named 155 managing directors. In 2023, it also appointed 184; and in 2022, it elevated 199.
Seventy percent of the newly appointed execs work in a revenue-generating capacity, interacting with clients and making the bank money, while 30% work in middle- and back-office or corporate functions.
The promotions come after a strong year for the firm’s dealmaking business. Morgan Stanley finished third on the worldwide M&A financial advisory league tables, according to LSEG, trailing only Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan.
It ended the year advising on more than $1 trillion in deal value across more than 400 transactions, LSEG’s December data show. That marked a significant jump from the prior year, when the bank advised on roughly $707 billion in deals across 368 mergers or acquisitions.
Across Wall Street, headhunters and investment bankers have told Business Insider in recent weeks that they expect 2026 to generate robust activity in mergers and the capital markets. That backdrop may help explain why 48% of Morgan Stanley’s new managing directors came from its Institutional Securities Group, which advises corporate clients on IPOs, buyouts, and sales.
The bank informed the newly elevated executives on Wednesday and is expected to release the full list of names publicly in the coming days. The firm has also communicated bonuses to its employees, one of the first on Wall Street to inform workers how their contributions from last year resulted in their incentive compensation.
Below is a look at the statistics Morgan Stanley shared about the composition of its 2026 managing director class.
70% in Revenue, 30% in Infrastructure, the firm’s middle- and back-office or corporate functions.
Institutional Securities Group: 48%Investment Management: 12%Wealth Management: 9%
Regionally, Americas 67%, EMEA 18%, Asia 14%
The new MDs represent 14 countriesAverage tenure of around 11 years at Morgan Stanley35% of the class have earned advanced degrees49% of the class were hired as non-officers27% of MD class are female, 73% of the MD class are male
Of US-based MD promotes, 31% of the class are ethnically diverse and 69% are White.
5% are Black6% are Hispanic17% are Asian3% are Other
