From Congress to Merrill to Morgan Stanley

As proof that there are many ways to the top of the org chart at one of the top banks on Wall Street, let's take a look at the career trajectory of Harold Ford.

Ford gradauted from the Universtiy of Pennsylvania, received his J.D. from the University of Michigan, served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, joined Merrill Lynch following an aborted bid to join the U.S. Senate, and now has jumped BofA ship to Morgan Stanley, where he'll serve as a senior client manager and report directly to the head of investment banking, Paul Taubman.

In addition to his banking duties, the 40-year-old Ford teaches public policy at NYU and is a frequent political contributor to NBC and MSNBC.

(NYT)