Alasdair Morrison (banker)

Alasdair Morrison was the Chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia. He was previously the Chairman and Managing Director(Tai-pan) of Asian conglomerate Jardine Matheson Ltd.

Born in Scotland and educated in Eton and Cambridge, the son of a former British Army chaplain joined Jardines in 1970 as a management trainee selling cargo space. Performing exceptionally well, he was promoted to general manager of Jardine Industries in 1975 aged only 27 years old. In 1979, he became general manager for Jardines Philippines. Morrison was appointed general manager, Europe in 1982 and appointed associate director in 1983. He was appointed a director of the company and member of the parent company board in 1984. he became a member of the Asia Pacific Regional Board in 1987 and was named to the board of property giant Hongkong Land in the same year. In 1994, Morrison succeeded Nigel Rich as Chairman and Managing Director or quaintly known as 'Tai-pan', of Jardine Matheson Holdings.

As 'Tai-pan' of Jardines, he presided over the delisting of the company from the Hong Kong stock exchange, Hang Seng Index. Though this period saw a very difficult time for the company with its relationship with the Chinese Government, Morrison is credited for having helped reestablish Jardines' ties with the Chinese government by publicly apologising for some of the company's past actions during the early part of his tenure as Managing Director and frequently visiting Chinese officials in Beijing. Morrison also reorganised several key structures and processes of the sprawling conglomerate. But the key highlight of his career is his effective management of the company during the Asian financial crisis (1997-98) and the recession that followed.

In an apparent disagreement with Jardines' controlling shareholders, the Keswick family, over the conglomerate's convoluted interlocking shareholdings in several sister companies, Morrison resigned from the company in 2000 and was replaced by Percy Weatherall, a cousin of the Keswicks. Morrison was then courted by several companies based in Asia but decided to join investment banking giant Morgan Stanley as its Chairman and CEO for Asia. He was the Chairman of the company having relinquished the CEO position in 2005 and retired as Chairman on March 8, 2007. Morrison is known among his peers and colleagues as hard working, incredibly intelligent but reserved, having quickly worked his way up the corporate ladder from the bottom ranks shows his talent and skill in corporate management.