In his first public comments since the troubled Facebook IPO two weeks ago, Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman told CNBC's "Closing Bell" that despite widespread criticism of his firm's handling of the stock offering, "in the room" there appeared to be enough demand to justify its $38 offering price.
He called demand from retail investors "unprecedented." Gorman said the retail share allocation was 26 percent.
In an exclusive live interview with Maria Bartiromo, he called on investors to give the stock "a little bit of time" before deciding the offering was a failure. "This is one of the most volatile openings to an IPO ever."
Gorman denied there was any "nefarious activity" connected with how it communicated a cut in Facebook's earnings estimates by Morgan's analyst just days before the offering. "There wasn't any desire to obfuscate or hide," he said, noting that the company disclosed in its public SEC filing that mobile advertising had weakened. "Over 20 news organizations," including CNBC, reported that change, he added.