By By Andrew Countryman, Chicago Tribune
Since Philip J. Purcell helped launch the Discover card at Sears, Roebuck and Co. in 1985, they both have undergone major changes.
Sears spun off the Dean Witter Discover unit in the early 1990s, and that merged with Morgan Stanley in 1997, with Purcell taking over as chief executive of the combined company.
Discover, meanwhile, has gone from an upstart challenger to Visa, MasterCard and American Express to an established, if somewhat lagging, player in the credit-card industry.
Now, change is occurring again. Purcell is preparing to spin off Morgan Stanley’s Discover Financial Services unit, based in the Chicago suburb of Riverwoods, as he tries to fend off a challenge to his leadership at the giant investment banking firm.
For this complete story, please visit Spinoff of Discover Card Unit Questioned.
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