Wachovia reportedly in talks with Morgan Stanley
This may cause some nervousness at Jefferson & Market, the old A.G. Edwards headquarters: The New York Times reports that Wachovia is among the possible suitors for Morgan Stanley.
Morgan Stanley, one of the few independent investment banks left on Wall Street, watched its shares fall 24 percent today as investors try to figure out who will be the next victim of the financial crisis. Wachovia also has been weakened, and some analysts have said it may have to look for a buyer itself.
The Times story, based on “people briefed on the discussions,” is short on specifics. Here’s the key paragraph:
As Morgan Stanley’s share price came under renewed assault on Wednesday, the firm’s chief executive, John J. Mack, received a telephone call from Wachovia expressing interest in the Wall Street bank. Other banks have also expressed interest in Morgan Stanley, which is considering various options. The talks with Wachovia are preliminary and no deal may emerge.
If a deal does emerge, though, it could be bad for St. Louis. When Wachovia bought A.G. Edwards, it made St. Louis the headquarters for Wachovia Securities and moved jobs here from Richmond, Va. Presumably some of those functions would migrate to New York after the purchase of a major Wall Street player.
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David Nicklaus has covered St. Louis business for more than 25 years. His column appears three days a week on the Post-Dispatch business page. 
Just think when the internal battle for AG Edwards after Ben Edwards retired and for the first time in the history of AGE they turned the reigns over to a NON-Edwards family member….
5-6 years later the firm, jobs and STL economy may be destroyed. If Mr. Tad Edwards had been able to run his family company, more than likely the firm would be in a different place.
Somewhere, the old board members who sent this proud firm down this road at Edwards is throwing up. Hopefully on their own shoes.
It appears to me that a few dozen jobs in jeopardy is small potatos when you consider the enormity of this mess these greedy pigs have created for themselves. This mindset of only looking at the next quarter’s bottom line is going to have to change. If some of these people had done a little gazing into the future and played it conservatively, they might be the last man standing in this mess. But in a race to the the “biggest” in the world scene I guess ego and greed take a front seat.
Agreed-greed took control of a really great company. AG Edwards WAS one of the old firms that people could rely on.
The board cashed in and now everyone suffers.
Is there any doubt that AG Edwards could have recruited brokers from Merrill, Smith Barney, Wachovia, etc. and grown if the old, tired, board members would have just waited 11 months.
They said they could no longer compete with the big boys. Well-it looks like your actions and your results now are like the big boys.
It is appalling that the family sold AGE and then starts their own firm in Clayton. To make it worse they sold to a financial conglomerate that is now about to go bankrupt. Way to do right by your employees and shareholders. Amazing that no one here in StL really comments on the downside of this whole AGE fiasco…
I guess timing is everything, and Tad doesn’t have what it takes (unless he is going to profit from it on your account).
C-your latest comment is incorrect. THE FAMILY did not want to sell. The firm was, for the first time, run by someone NOT in the family who decided to sell. THE FAMILY and MR. EDWARDS did not and spoke loudly about the deal to sell to Wachovia. It was just the opposite.
SO now the family is trying to rebuild and build the firm that the shareholders and board and MR. Bagby sold.