Richard Fisher, 68; Headed Morgan Stanley Securities Firm in ‘90s

Richard B. Fisher, 68, who as chairman of Morgan Stanley oversaw the sale of the firm in 1997 to Dean Witter, Discover & Co. for $10.9 billion, has died.

Fisher, chairman emeritus of Morgan Stanley, the second-largest U.S. securities firm, died Thursday of cancer.

Born in Philadelphia in 1936, Fisher earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and an MBA from Harvard. He began his career at Morgan Stanley in 1962, became president in 1984 and was named chairman in 1991. After the merger with Dean Witter, he was appointed chairman of the executive committee and was named chairman emeritus in 2000.

Fisher was a noted art collector, especially of Abstract Expressionist paintings, and his collections included works by Robert Motherwell, Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline.

He also served as chairman of the boards of the Urban Institute and Rockefeller University and as chairman of the Brooklyn Academy of Music endowment trust.