Former Morgan Stanley banker Tom Nides may be headed back to Wall Street, The Post has learned.
Nides, who left the investment bank in 2010 to become deputy secretary of state for management and resources, will step down from his government post in mid-February, sources said.
Nides, a longtime friend of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, was the chief operations officer at Morgan Stanley.
The 51-year-old, in deciding to leave, turned down a request to stay put by Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who has been nominated by President Obama to succeed Clinton at the State Dept.
Nides has decided to leave DC to try something new, sources said.
The banker-cum-Beltway power player is being courted by a number of financial institutions, including his former employer, Morgan Stanley, sources said.
If Nides were to return to Morgan Stanley, it would be his third tour of duty in Wall Street finance. He was an official at Fannie Mae before leaving to join Credit Suisse in 2001, where he worked with John Mack until both left to join Morgan Stanley in 2005 — where Nides stayed until 2010.
Nides maintains close ties to Morgan Stanley execs and was close to former CEO and Chairman Mack during the heart of the financial crisis.
Some speculate that the Wall Street/Washington broker also could work with Clinton as she prepares for a possible 2016 White House run.
Nides also had been considered by insiders as a potential candidate for White House chief of staff, replacing Jacob Lew, who has been tapped by Obama as the replacement for Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.
Nides has been responsible for the State Department’s budget. He has testified before Congress about the attack on the US diplomatic outpost in Benghazi — as his boss recovered in the hospital after falling and suffering a concussion.
Clinton is expected to testify today.