Morgan Stanley Dumps Cruz Over Subprime

Morgan Stanley co-president Zoe Cruz has joined the ranks of subprime casualties, after the broker suffered $3.7 billion in mortgage-related losses in the first two months of the fourth quarter. Insiders said her leadership style and her 2005 backing of unpopular CEO Philip Purcell, who eventually was ousted, also contributed to her firing, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Cruz, 52, one of the most powerful women on Wall Street, joins several other high-powered financial executives humbled by the subprime crisis, losing their jobs “whether they are rising stars or not.” One analyst said the move portends Morgan Stanley releasing “larger than expected losses" at the quarter’s close. Cruz, a 25-year company veteran, had been considered a leading candidate to be Morgan Stanley's next CEO. (More Morgan Stanley stories.)