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Morgan Stanley Email Leak: Crisis Communication Lessons

Eamon Blackthorn
By Eamon Blackthorn Author of the best-selling book Say It Right Every Time
3 min read Crisis & Reputation
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What Happened

A Morgan Stanley banker accidentally sent a comprehensive list of over 100 live deals to clients who were never supposed to see it. The list included IPO candidates across Asian markets. The bank moved quickly to contain the damage, but the information was already out. In finance, leaked deal lists are not embarrassing footnotes. They are market-moving, relationship-ending, legally complicated disasters.

This is exactly the kind of scenario I break down in Say It Right Every Time. The chapter on crisis messaging gives you a framework for sequencing your response when the damage is already done: who gets the first call, what the opening sentence must include, and why apologizing in plain language beats a polished statement every single time. The hierarchy of who hears from you, and when, is not instinct. It is a skill you build before the crisis, not during it.

Say It Right Every Time by Eamon Blackthorn

Never Be Lost
for Words Again

By Eamon Blackthorn

Get word‑for‑word scripts for the conversations that shape your life, from job interviews and negotiations to difficult talks with family and partners, so you always know exactly what to say and how to say it.

Go to Book PageFrom $9.97 USD
PaperbackHardcoverKindleAudiobook
Say It Right Every Time by Eamon Blackthorn

Never Be Lost
for Words Again

By Eamon Blackthorn

Get word‑for‑word scripts for the conversations that shape your life, from job interviews and negotiations to difficult talks with family and partners, so you always know exactly what to say and how to say it.

Go to Book PageFrom $9.97 USD
PaperbackHardcoverKindleAudiobook

Key Takeaway

Before you send any sensitive information, build one physical checkpoint into your process: read the "To" field out loud before you hit send. Not a glance. Out loud. This one habit, done every time without exception, catches the mistake that no software filter will.

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Illustration for Morgan Stanley Email Leak: Crisis Communication Lessons

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Morgan Stanley Email Leak: Crisis Communication Lessons

A Morgan Stanley banker accidentally sent a comprehensive list of over 100 live deals to clients who were never supposed to see it. The list included IPO candidates across Asian markets. The bank moved quickly to contain the damage, but the information was already out. In finance, leaked deal lists are not embarrassing footnotes. They are market-moving, relationship-ending, legally complicated disasters.

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