Why Silicon Valley Loves Wall Street

Some Wall Street stars are decamping for Silicon Valley, corralled by tech giants and tech start-ups looking for financial expertise, marquee talent and bragging rights.

Morgan Stanley announced Tuesday that Ruth Porat, its chief financial officer and a 28-year veteran of the firm, will become theCFO of Google at the end of April. (She replaces CFO Patrick Pichette, who quit this month before his successor had been chosen.)

Porat is a big get for Google, which has had issues with analysts and regulators over slowing growth and concerns that it bullies competitors on the Web. Porat has a sterling reputation on Wall Street and in Washington, where's she's regarded as an executive who has a deft hand with regulators and investors.

During the financial crisis that began in 2008, Porat advised the Treasury Department on the bailout of the foundering government-sponsored lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. She helped rebuild Morgan Stanley’s reputation with investors in the wake of the crisis. Her performance through all of that got her on the shortlist of candidates to be the U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary.

Google’s desire to have someone like Porat in its C-suite speaks to Silicon Valley's continuing effort to buy managerial legitimacy and gravitas, a need heightened by the fact that companies like Google -- which were still relatively new 15 years ago -- are now elder statespeople that have to pursue much more sophisticated dealings with big investors and public policymakers.

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