Morgan Stanley "Laps the Competition" in Fortune 500 Rankings
Fortune 500 rankings, released in Fortune's April 26th issue, Morgan Stanley clearly demonstrated the wisdom of its business strategy and its industry leadership, jumping to 29th overall and coming in first among financial services in return on equity. In addition, Morgan Stanley ranked seventh across all industries in assets.
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In the 1999 Fortune 500 rankings, released in Fortune's April 26th issue, Morgan Stanley clearly demonstrated the wisdom of its business strategy and its industry leadership, jumping to 29th overall and coming in first among financial services in return on equity. In addition, Morgan Stanley ranked seventh across all industries in assets.
Morgan Stanley's outstanding growth and performance prompted Fortune reporter Carol Loomis to profile the Firm as one of the seven Fortune 500 Giants the only financial services company profiled. A teaser on the Fortune cover states, "Carol Loomis on Why Morgan Stanley Looks Like a Home Run."
In her piece, entitled, "Morgan Stanley: The Oddball Marriage Works," Loomis explores the success of the Morgan Stanley-Dean Witter merger. She notes Morgan Stanley's continuing profitability since the merger, writing that the Firm has "been making money all along. Morgan Stanley's profits
were more than double Merrill's. Morgan Stanley rang up $3.3 billion; Merrill $1.3 billion. Even if you adjust for some special items that widened the difference, Morgan Stanley still weighed in with twice Merrill's earnings."
A joint statement from Phil Purcell and John Mack on Morgan Stanley's first quarter earnings underscores Morgan Stanley's strong performance as well: "This past quarter we were able to capitalize on the improved environment by achieving a substantial increase in earnings per share and an ROE of 29.5 percent well above our target rate of 18-20 percent." Morgan Stanley achieved a 23.2 percent return on equity for 1998.
Morgan Stanley's rankings are outlined below.
| Fortune 500 |
| 1999 | 1998 |
| 29 | 35 |
| Financial Services Industry |
| 1998 Revenues in $Billions |
| 1 | Citigroup | $76.4 |
| 2 | BankAmerica Corp. | $50.8 |
| 3 | State Farm Insurance | $48.1 |
| 4 | TIAA-CREF | $35.9 |
| 5 | Merrill Lynch | $35.9 |
| 6 | Prudential Insurance | $34.4 |
| 7 | American International Group | $33.3 |
| 8 | Chase Manhattan Corp. | $32.4 |
| 9 | Fannie Mae | $31.5 |
| 10 | Morgan Stanley | $31.1 |
| 1998 Profits in $Billions |
| 1 | Citigroup | $5.8 |
| 2 | BankAmerica Corp. | $5.2 |
| 3 | Chase Manhattan Corp. | $3.8 |
| 4 | American International Group | $3.8 |
| 5 | Fannie Mae | $3.4 |
| 6 | Morgan Stanley | $3.3 |
| 7 | State Farm Insurance | $1.3 |
| 8 | Merrill Lynch | $1.3 |
| 9 | Prudential Insurance | $1.1 |
| 10 | TIAA-CREF | $0.8 |
| 1998 Profits As % of Stockholders' Equity/ROE |
| 1 | Morgan Stanley | 23.2% |
| 2 | Fannie Mae | 22.1% |
| 3 | Chase Manhattan Corp. | 15.9% |
| 4 | American International Group | 13.9% |
| 5 | Citigroup | 13.6% |
| 6 | TIAA-CREF | 13.3% |
| 7 | Merrill Lynch | 12.4% |
| 8 | BankAmerica Corp. | 11.2% |
| 9 | Prudential Insurance | 5.4% |
| 10 | State Farm Insurance | 3.2% |
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