At the turn of the century, a friend of mine was head-hunted by Morgan Stanley. He discussed his decision to change firms with me and I counselled him as follows: “Morgan Stanley is a good firm but it’s not the great firm it once was. The aura’s changed.” When pressed to expound, I said lamely that the calibre of people Stanley was hiring seemed to me more mediocre than in the past. Sadly, my friend took that as a personal insult and never spoke to me again.
Abigail Hofman,
May 10, 2006