Morgan Stanley may be losing its tech luster.
The firm’s well-buffed reputation as the savviest tech banker in Silicon Valley was dented and dirtied by Twitter executives as the micro-blogging site interviewed candidates to lead its high-profile stock offering, The Post has learned.
Twitter officials, led by Chief Financial Officer Mike Gupta, solicited feedback from other bankers about Morgan Stanley’s performance on its previous efforts in bringing tech firms public over the past two years, sources said.
Gupta and other Twitter brass highlighted deals like Morgan Stanley’s well-publicized stumble with Facebook’s IPO as prime examples of scenarios they wanted to avoid, people familiar with Twitter’s talks with banks said.
The tech company has chosen Goldman Sachs to be its lead banker.
While bankers expected to be asked about the much-reported Facebook IPO gaffe — some think Michael Grimes, the 46-year old head of Morgan Stanley’s tech team, priced the deal too high — they were also asked about Grimes’ work on LinkedIn.
Twitter executives thought that May 2011 IPO was also handled inexpertly, sources said.
Twitter executives told bankers in interviews that they thought Grimes — who has ruled over the tech world’s IPO business for years — left too much money on the table with LinkedIn $45 a share launch.
LinkedIn shot up 109 percent in its first-day of trading, closing at $94.25.
Underwriters and companies aim for first-day pops of 10 percent to 20 percent.
With Facebook’s May 2012 launch, Grimes couldn’t quite seem to get the pricing right either, sources said.
Facebook shares, priced at $38, slumped on the first day and didn’t close above the IPO price more than 14 months, until last Aug. 2 — when they closed at $38.05.
So far, Grimes’ apparent missteps have hit Morgan Stanley’s reputation more than its bottom line.
According to Dealogic Morgan Stanley, since the Facebook deal, is tied with Goldman Sachs for the most tech IPOs at 10.
Although Morgan Stanley is expected to play a minor role in the Twitter deal, it’s blow to Grimes & Co. not to be the banker on the much-anticipated deal.
“Facebook was a disaster,” said David Menlow, president of consulting firm IPO Financial.com.
“The problem for Morgan Stanley is that it’s associated with being the most prominent cause of Facebook’s IPO issues,” Menlow noted.
And it’s not just the Twitter lead role that Morgan Stanley lost out on. In a secondary offering Sept. 4, LinkedIn tapped JPMorgan Chase to lead the deal . Morgan Stanley led the IPO and a November 2011 secondary offering.
Also a surprise, Twitter opted not to have banks deliver formal presentations to win the lucrative IPO job.
Instead, the company held informal meetings with banks, which still expected that they’d have chance in the future to present formal pitches, sources said.
They did not.