Morgan Stanley has rehired veteran technology dealmaker Michael Grimes as chairman of investment banking in February 2026, bringing him back after a year in the US government as the bank seeks to capture a revival in big-ticket technology listings.

Reuters reported that Grimes’s return was announced in an internal memo to staff, marking his first role at the bank since leaving in 2025 to serve as a senior adviser at the US commerce department. He had spent more than three decades at Morgan Stanley before his government stint and was one of Wall Street’s most prominent bankers in the technology sector.

According to the memo cited by Reuters, Morgan Stanley’s senior leadership said Grimes would apply his experience across the firm’s investment banking and institutional securities businesses. “Michael will continue to manage and build relationships with many of our most important global corporate, venture, private equity and sovereign clients,” the executives wrote, adding that he would be based in Menlo Park, California.

The Financial Times reported that Grimes will hold the newly defined role of group chair of investment banking rather than returning to his previous position as co-head of technology investment banking. The newspaper said the bank told employees that his remit would extend across the full franchise as technology reshapes productivity and industrial policy globally.

Reuters said Grimes’s appointment comes as banks compete for mandates on a wave of large technology flotations expected this year. The news agency reported in December that Morgan Stanley is emerging as a leading contender for a senior role on a potential initial public offering of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, a transaction that could rank among the largest listings on record.

Grimes has worked closely with Musk for more than a decade, advising on Tesla’s stock market debut and on Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, now renamed X, Reuters reported. The news agency also noted that SpaceX last week acquired Musk’s artificial intelligence start-up xAI ahead of a mooted public listing that could value the space company at more than $1.5 trillion.

The Financial Times reported that Grimes played a central role in building Morgan Stanley’s technology equity capital markets franchise, leading landmark IPOs for companies including Facebook, Uber and Airbnb. It added that his reputation and client relationships have long set him apart from traditional investment banking leadership structures.

Morgan Stanley reported a 47 per cent increase in investment banking revenues in the fourth quarter, according to Reuters, reflecting a broader recovery in dealmaking activity that the bank expects to continue through this year.

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