Morgan Stanley has reported a strong Q2 performance, with $21.3 billion in revenue, marking a 27% year-on-year increase. The bank's earnings presentation revealed a strategic focus on building relationships with private companies, particularly those valued as unicorns, to foster long-term wealth management revenue.

During the earnings call, CFO Sharon Yeshaya highlighted that Morgan Stanley manages equity plans for about 70% of the top 100 unicorns by market capitalization. This translates to a solid pipeline of potential IPOs, giving the bank access to some of the most valuable private companies even before they make their initial public offerings.

Building Long-Term Relationships

The strategy is centered around treating the IPO process as an entry point rather than the ultimate goal. The objective is to use these corporate relationships to establish ongoing wealth management revenue streams that are less reliant on one-off deals. Recently, the bank co-led SpaceX’s IPO, which signifies its commitment to stepping into lucrative financial roles within market-leading firms.

Focus on Crypto Companies

As part of their strategy, Morgan Stanley acquired EquityZen, a trading platform for private shares, in January 2026. This acquisition positions them to engage in pre-IPO trading, anticipating at least 12 significant unicorns to debut in the current year. Notably, this pipeline includes crypto-native unicorns such as Kraken and Consensys, both of which are rumored to be preparing for public market entries.

Kraken has been a longstanding name in the U.S. crypto exchange arena, while Consensys focuses on Ethereum-related software. This emphasis on crypto companies aligns with Morgan Stanley's previous involvement in the crypto sector, including investments in ZeroHash, whose valuation reached $1 billion in 2025.

Implications for Investors

The potential IPOs of firms like Kraken and Consensys may attract attention from crypto-focused investors. While Morgan Stanley hasn't made specific references to crypto tokens in their discussions, their strategic positioning suggests an interest in capitalizing on the growth of cryptocurrency infrastructure rather than taking speculative bets on digital asset prices. This approach could provide investors with opportunities linked to the increasing corporatization of the crypto space.

This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice.