The Most Powerful Women in Finance: No. 14, Sharon Yeshaya, Morgan Stanley

Sharon Yeshaya has tried to provide stability at Morgan Stanley as the firm changed CEOs and may now face new regulations.

"We have had a change in leadership but not a change in strategy," Yeshaya said, echoing Ted Pick, who took over as CEO in January from James Gorman.

Yeshaya worked closely with Gorman, having been named his chief of staff in 2015. She later led the firm's investor relations, presiding over a division that incorporated E-Trade and Eaton Vance, a global asset management firm Morgan Stanley acquired in 2021. That same year, Yeshaya was elevated to chief financial officer amid several leadership changes that foreshadowed Gorman's departure.

Today, Yeshaya leads a team of 3,600 employees managing the financial resources of a firm that has swelled to $1.2 trillion in assets following landmark growth in wealth management. Over the past year, Yeshaya said she has told regulators, shareholders, debt-holders and rating agencies that Morgan Stanley possesses a "durable model that we continue to execute on."

The CFO also is focused on the proper rate of growth and areas Morgan Stanley can improve upon. For example, Yeshaya eyes adding talent to "investment banking verticals not as deep in coverage."

Yeshaya makes these decisions amid regulatory uncertainty. The Federal Reserve is anticipated to lower interest rates this year, but it is also expected to raise bank capital and liquidity requirements. The increase in certain types of capital that banks must hold — known as the Basel III endgame — has been debated for years with the Fed seeking to implement a final rule in July 2025.  

Gorman testified before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee in December that the proposed Basel III rules would lead to excessive borrowing costs. As Morgan Stanley representatives spend time in Washington discussing their concerns, Yeshaya is the point person for explaining Basel III's possible effects. The banker flew to company offices in Glasgow and Budapest, while speaking at events like an ice cream social in Baltimore.

Yeshaya follows Gorman's lead by modulating her message.   

"I try to speak to a different audience and match what I think they can hear and understand," she said. "I was able to learn that from James, to see him talking with different audiences, how the tone, demeanor and energy" could change.

Yeshaya's parents are immigrants and she grew up in Los Angeles before graduating from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She has spent her entire career at Morgan Stanley, but Yeshaya said her path is nonlinear, noting she moved between research, sales, and trading and investing jobs.

Connecting with women from different business lines is what animates Women Leading Morgan Stanley, a program Yeshaya co-founded and co-chairs that connects female managing directors across the firm. The cohort receives executive coaching and intentional exposure to firm leadership. There are "master classes and workshops," Yeshaya said, for developing skills like public speaking.

While Morgan Stanley's top three executives are white men, Yeshaya credited Gorman with creating a pathway for change that has led to an increase in female managing directors.  

"James spent a lot of time talking about the next generation of senior female leaders that we could invest in," she said.