A former banker who raked in $100 million for Morgan Stanley is fighting for his bonus check
Bernard Mourad worked for the New York-based investment bank until 2015. On Monday, Mourad told an employment tribunal in Paris that Morgan Stanley owes him $1.5 million for his role in a $23 billion merger deal, according to reporting from Bloomberg's Gaspard Sebag.
Mourad brought in $100 million for the bank while he advised Patrick Drahi, the Moroccan-born founder of Netherlands-based Altice, a telecom conglomerate, in an acquisition. Mourad left Morgan Stanley in 2015 to work for Drahi.
During the tribunal, Morgan Stanley's lawyers said the bank constructed Mourad's compensation package to "reward loyalty." As such, Mourad's departure from the bank disqualified him for the bonus.
Mourad's lawyer argued that such a set up is illegal under French law because Mourad did not give "express consent."
"It's a bit like saying that your salary for July will only be paid if you're still working at the company four years later," Eric Manca, Mourad's lawyer said.
Mourad filed the lawsuit soon after he quit, according to Bloomberg, to become the chairman of Altice Media Group, a division of Drahi's Altice. More recently, he worked on French President Emmanuel Macrons's presidential campaign.
Read the full story on Bloomberg.