As finance chief at Morgan Stanley, Colm Kelleher was in the thick of it when the last economic crisis hit. This time around, the Irishman is watching the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on world markets and economies from the app on his phone and the newspapers he reads daily at his Italian bolthole.
After stepping down as president of Morgan Stanley last summer, Mr Kelleher remains on the books as a “senior adviser”, keeping a PA, an office and a Bloomberg terminal, but is deliberately hands off as he contemplates how to spend the “final third” of his professional life.
“I’ve taken a year out specifically and I tell people, ‘Please only call me if you really need me’ because I want the new management team to do their own job . . . I don’t want to be like Banquo’s ghost,” says the 63-year-old, who insists he will “stay active” well into his 80s through a combination of non executive roles and pro bono work.