Morgan Stanley apologizes to customers for bad judgement in inviting a lying rapist to speak at Florida conference:
February 11, 2001 Single-Page Format
Morgan Stanley Says It 'Clearly Made a
Mistake' by Inviting Clinton to Speak
By PHILIP SHENON
ASHINGTON, Feb. 10 — The
chairman of Morgan Stanley has told
clients that the Wall Street investment
company "clearly made a mistake" by having
former President Bill Clinton speak at a
conference in Florida on Monday, saying the
firm understood their unhappiness in light of
"Mr. Clinton's personal behavior as president."
In an e-mail message to clients, the company's
chairman, Philip J. Purcell, acknowledged
what he called an error. The message was sent
on Thursday and Friday to Morgan Stanley
customers who had expressed outrage over
reports that Mr. Clinton was paid $100,000
or more for the appearance in Boca Raton,
Fla., his first speech since leaving office.
A spokesman for Morgan Stanley, Ray
O'Rourke, said that the firm had received
dozens of complaints from clients, with some
threatening to take their business elsewhere,
and that Mr. Purcell had decided to respond
directly to them.
In the message, the Morgan Stanley chairman
said: "I fully understand why you are upset that
former President Clinton spoke at one of our
conferences."
"We clearly made a mistake," the message
said. "First, the decision did not receive the
proper review within the firm. And second, we
should have been far more sensitive to the
strong feelings of our clients over Mr. Clinton's
personal behavior as president."
"We should have thought twice before the speaking invitation was
extended," the e-mail message continued. "Our failure to do so was
particularly unfortunate in light of Mr. Clinton's actions in leaving the
White House."
nytimes.com |
