Deborah Decotis Zoullas
Managing Director, Retired
Morgan Stanley
Principal
Creative Solutions
Debbie Zoullas joined Morgan Stanley in 1978. During her career there, she held a number of positions in the investment banking division. Following a three-year stint in London, Ms. Zoullas' career focused in the capital markets arena, where she had global responsibility for the origination side of the new issue investment grade debt products business. She retired from Morgan Stanley in 1996 and continues a close association with the firm as an advisory director.
In 1999, Ms. Zoullas embarked on a second career where she was appointed an executive vice president of Sotheby's Holdings, Inc. with the responsibility for managing a large portion of the business including finance, operations, strategic planning, real estate, jewelry, and Asia. In the wake of the price fixing scandal in 200 and the departure of the CEO, Ms. Zoullas was appointed to the board and became a member of the three-person office of the chief executive. She spent the next year at Sotheby's steadying the financial ship and navigating the series of lawsuits which ensued. Upon settling the final claim against the company in late 2000, Ms. Zoullas resigned her responsibilities at Sotheby's.
Ms. Zoullas founded Creative Solutions, a startup luxury goods venture in 2000.
Mr. Zoullas holds a BA from Smith College and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Ms. Zoullas serves as a director of Armor Holdings, a trustee of the Helena Rubenstein Foundation, and a member of the executive committee of the special projects committee of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She is also a past chair of the Stanford Business School Trust after serving on that board for six years. Ms. Zoullas was the chair of her 20th reunion at the GSB and is a co-chair of her upcoming 25th reunion.
She and her husband, Nick, live in New York City.
