Morgan Stanley's killer year - Buy now, pay later explosion - Ex-Goldman banker 'cheated' by billionaire

Good morning and welcome to Insider Finance. I'm Dan DeFrancesco, and here's what's on the agenda today:

• Morgan Stanley CFO Jon Pruzan shares some thoughts on how the bank has positioned itself for big growth.
• Inside a subreddit dedicated to blank-check companies that's looking to avoid the retail hype and YOLO memes on WallStreetBets.
• Jide Zeitlin, a former Goldman partner, said he was 'cheated' by an IT billionaire who lent him $38 million.

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Like the newsletter? Hate the newsletter? Feel free to drop me a line at ddefrancesco@businessinsider.com or on Twitter @DanDeFrancesco.

Inside Morgan Stanley's blowout year, the culmination of James Gorman's decade-long war to win Wall Street

2020 was a big year for Morgan Stanley, inking monster big deals with E-Trade and Eaton Vance.

We looked back at how the bank has evolved over the past decade, and spoke to CFO Jon Pruzan about how it's positioned itself for big growth.

Click here to read the entire story.

Inside the Reddit community that's a SPAC-only version of WallStreetBets and is trying to tame retail hype by banning cursing and YOLO memes

Is WallStreetBets a little too vulgar to your liking? Check out this subreddit focused on blank-check companies, without the memes and bad words. Read more here.

A 'coiled spring' is set to unleash massive growth for the payments spaces. Here's who stands to gain the most.

Amex, Mastercard, and Visa didn't have a great 2020 due to the pandemic. But many analysts are bullish on their prospects in 2021. See more here.

Charles Schwab faces deluge of questions from Wall Street on the retail-trading frenzy and payment for order flow

One of the top traditional brokerages faced plenty of questions about the Reddit-fueled trading frenzy. Get the full rundown here.

These 3 charts show the insane traffic and user engagement Robinhood got last week in the midst of the Reddit-fueled trading frenzy

Take a look at some charts that show how many users flocked to Robinhood's website during the surge in retail trading last week. Read more here.

Former Millennium portfolio manager Seth Turkeltaub is launching his own fund. Here's what we know about Concentric Capital Strategies.

Get the full rundown on Seth Turkeltaub's new fund. See more here.

Jide Zeitlin, the ex-Goldman banker who stepped down as Tapestry CEO under a cloud, says he was 'cheated' by a billionaire who lent him $38 million

A former Goldman partner has accused IT billionaire Thai Lee of manipulating his biotech stock that was collateral for a $38 million loan. She denied it. Read more here.

How 'democratizing investing' has paved the way for the meme stock moment, according to the CEO of a fintech that powers investing for Revolut and Cash App

The CEO of a fintech that has played a key role in the rise of retail trading spoke about how the spike in trading last week, and the troubles that came from it, was a long time coming. Read more here.

Inside the explosion of buy-now, pay-later services like Klarna, now facing regulation after worries young people are falling into debt

Buy now, pay later companies are getting the attention of regulators due to concerns over young people falling into debt. Read more here.

Narmi, a fintech that helps banks up their digital game, is looking to double headcount this year after nabbing $20 million from a backer of Salesforce and Plaid

A fintech that helps community and regional banks just raised a round and is doubling its headcount. Read more here.

Odd lots:

Top cannabis investors share their best 2021 predictions, including a slew of major deals, more cash flowing into the industry, and fresh states legalizing marijuana (BI)

Barstool's Dave Portnoy says he lost $700,000 on 'meme stocks' like GameStop and AMC: Robinhood CEO 'stole it from me and should be in jail' (BI)

Robinhood makes hundreds of millions from selling customer orders. That business model is about to come into focus. (BI)