Thomas Columba Kelleher[1] was born in Bandon, County Cork, Ireland,[2] on 30 May 1957,[3] to a doctor father and a homemaker mother.
[5] In 1989, Bob Diamond recruited Kelleher to join Morgan Stanley's debt markets division in London,[1][4] where he focused on fixed income sales.
[10] He is credited for significantly reducing Morgan Stanley's balance sheet, increasing its cash position,[11] and transforming it to a conventional bank holding company so it could access funding from the US Federal Reserve.
[14] While the merger faced challenges initially and spanned several years to fully integrate, it ultimately proved successful and contributed to Morgan Stanley becoming a major player in wealth management.
[18][19] Greg Fleming, the head of wealth management at the time and seen as the CEO heir apparent to James P. Gorman, departed the firm upon Kelleher's promotion.
[16] Kelleher retired from his position in 2019, but remained as a special adviser,[17] retaining an office, a personal assistant, and a Bloomberg Terminal.
Kelleher brought in the former CEO Sergio Ermotti replacing Ralph Hamers to lead the integration and restructuring efforts.
[4] After retiring from Morgan Stanley, he completed the near 500-mile religious pilgrimage Camino de Santiago raising over US$330,000 for Student Sponsor Partners.