Bangalore: John Mack will step down as CEO of Morgan Stanley on January 1, 2010, but will continue to serve as Chairman. Mack will turn over his Chief Executive Officer title to Co-President James Gorman. Mack (64) has been the CEO since his return to the firm in 2005 after being forced out of his prior position as President and Chief Operating Officer in a power struggle in 2001. In the intervening years, he held top posts at Credit Suisse First Boston and Pequot Capital Management. Mack joined Morgan Stanley as a salesman in 1972 and worked his way up through the ranks. In more than four years leading the firm, Mack sought to improve profits and repair divisions that appeared under former CEO Philip Purcell. While the company survived the financial crisis that devastated some rivals, Morgan Stanley has lost money since the third quarter of 2008 and reined in trading even as Goldman Sachs Group earnings hit an all-time high. "Mack has been beaten up a little for not taking as much risk in the capital markets as Goldman," said Matt McCormick, a Banking Industry Analyst at Bahl and Gaynor in Cincinnati. "He was given a tough job, I think he handled it above average and history will judge him a solid leader on Wall Street."