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| Morgan Stanley's new co-chief executive of Asia Pacific: Wei Christianson |
Wei Christianson and Bill Strong are Morgan Stanley’s new co-chief executives of Asia Pacific. Confirming a Euromoney exclusive on March 25 speculating that Beijing-based Christianson would take on the co-CEO Asia Pacific role, Morgan Stanley announced on March 28 that she and Chicago-based Strong would head the bank in the region. Strong is expected to move to Hong Kong in the near future, according to the bank.
The announcement came two weeks after the departure of Owen Thomas, the previous chief executive Asia Pacific, was reported. He is returning to the US after three years in the role. The move, precipitated by what co-president of institutional securities Colm Kelleher described in a March 14 internal memo as a personal decision made by Thomas and his family, will involve Thomas retaining his role as chairman of Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing. Thomas, Kelleher writes, will remain in Asia for the time being to manage the succession.
According to sources in and outside Morgan Stanley, Wei Christianson, the firm’s chief executive for China and one of the region’s best-connected and most-experienced dealmakers, was the obvious choice to replace Thomas.