James Gorman to affix General Atlantic as adviser forward of IPO | USAEMALL.com

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James Gorman, the former chief executive of Morgan Stanley, is to join General Atlantic as a strategic adviser as the US-based private equity group prepares a highly anticipated initial public offering.

Gorman’s appointment will put one of Wall Street’s most connected financiers who led the revival of Morgan Stanley after the 2008 financial crisis into a crucial role at General Atlantic as it plots a rapid expansion.

Gorman will advise General Atlantic’s leadership, including chief executive Bill Ford, on strategy, growth plans and potential acquisitions for the investment group, which manages more than $100bn.

“James is going to join the firm as a senior adviser and work closely with me, the board and our senior leadership team as we chart the firm’s course into the future,” Ford said in an interview with the Financial Times.

Gorman said General Atlantic was expanding beyond its speciality in high-growth technology investments such as its early hits with Facebook, Alibaba and ByteDance.

“I see this as a firm with momentum,” Gorman said in an interview. “It’s going to be a winner in what is a very rapidly consolidating, changing industry.”

Gorman said he was also drawn to the New York-based investment group for its philanthropic history; the firm was founded by the late billionaire Chuck Feeney, who gave away a multibillion-dollar fortune built through a duty free retail empire.

General Atlantic’s IPO could come by the end of this year, said people briefed on the matter. It has filed confidentially with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a public listing, the FT reported in 2023, and has begun diversifying investment operations in advance of the offering.

It has expanded into private credit, infrastructure deals, climate technology and funds designed to buy second-hand private equity stakes. By going public, General Atlantic would join the ranks of much-larger peers such as Blackstone Group, KKR and Apollo Global which have evolved from clubby private partnerships to publicly traded companies.

General Atlantic, Ford and Gorman declined to comment on any IPO plans.

Ford said Gorman would advise General Atlantic on evaluating several acquisition deals presented to the firm. “James can help us a lot as we start to sort through [acquisition] opportunities, which ones are right for us and our strategy and which ones are not,” Ford said.

Gorman, an Australian banker who is chair of Walt Disney, is also expected to help General Atlantic manage rapid growth in its assets and headcount.

The group has about 1,000 employees but could expand quickly as it launches new funds and builds a sales force to manage relationships with a growing client base, spanning sovereign wealth funds, pensions and individual investors.

Ford said private equity “is changing significantly, and we know that our strategy is going to need to evolve to ensure that we are a leader far into the future”.