Jury Awards 1.45 Billion in Morgan Stanley E-mail Case

Jury Tallies Morgan's Total at $1.45 Billion. "Morgan Stanley suffered another legal setback yesterday as a Florida jury ordered it to pay $850 million in punitive damages to the financier Ronald O. Perelman, who contended he was defrauded by the investment bank in a 1998 deal. Philip J. Purcell, Morgan Stanley's chief executive, said the firm would appeal. The decision brings to $1.45 billion the sum owed to Mr. Perelman and casts more unflattering light on Morgan Stanley's reputation at a time that it is fighting a punishing campaign by eight retired executives who are calling for the ouster of Philip J. Purcell, its chief executive. While the $850 million did not approach the maximum $1.8 billion that the jury could have bestowed under Florida law, it was significantly higher than the $604 million in compensatory damages awarded to Mr. Perelman on Monday. . . "