Across America, corporate diversity initiatives are in the crosshairs of legal activists and a Trump administration set on wiping them out. At Morgan Stanley, the backlash bubbled up from within.  

After George Floyd’s murder in 2020, the investment bank’s then-CEO James Gorman called out “unresolved racial injustice” in society and vowed Morgan Stanley would be part of the solution. The bank created an Institute for Inclusion with external advisers to guide its efforts and pledged to boost the share of racial minorities in its executive ranks, where it trailed rivals.