Lazard Ltd (formerly known as Lazard Frères & Co.) is a financial advisory and

asset management firm An asset management company (AMC) is an asset management / investment management company/firm that invests the pooled funds of retail investors in securities in line with the stated investment objectives. For a fee, the company/firm provides more ...

that engages in

investment banking Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated with ...

asset management Asset management is a systematic approach to the governance and realization of value from the things that a group or entity is responsible for, over their whole life cycles. It may apply both to tangible assets (physical objects such as buildings ...

and other

financial services Financial services are the economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, accountancy companie ...

, primarily with institutional clients. It is the world's largest independent investment bank, with principal executive offices in New York City, Paris and London. Lazard was founded in 1848 and operates from more than 41 cities across 26 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Central and South America. The firm provides advice on mergers and acquisitions, strategic matters,

restructuring Restructuring is the corporate management term for the act of reorganizing the legal, ownership, operational, or other structures of a company for the purpose of making it more profitable, or better organized for its present needs. Other reasons ...

and capital structure, capital raising and corporate finance, as well as

services to corporations, partnerships, institutions, governments and individuals. In 2023, Lazard celebrates its 175th year in business.

History

Early Years

On July 12, 1848, three brothers, Alexandre Lazard, Lazare Lazard, and

Simon Lazard Simon Lazard (April 8, 1828 – February 24, 1898) was a Franco-American banker who co-founded Lazard Frères & Co., reorganized in 2000 as Lazard. A native of Lorraine, France, a young merchant of antebellum New Orleans, pioneer of the Californ ...

, founded Lazard Frères & Co. as a

dry goods Dry goods is a historic term describing the type of product line a store carries, which differs by region. The term comes from the textile trade, and the shops appear to have spread with the mercantile trade across the British Empire (and form ...

merchant store in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...

. By 1851, Simon and two more brothers, Maurice and Elie, had all moved to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, California, while Alexandre moved to New York. Lazard Frères began to serve miners engaged in the California Gold Rush, and soon expanded into banking and

foreign exchange The foreign exchange market (Forex, FX, or currency market) is a global decentralized or over-the-counter (OTC) market for the trading of currencies. This market determines foreign exchange rates for every currency. It includes all aspec ...

.Guy de Rougemont, Lazard Frères, Banquiers des Deux Mondes (1840-1939), Librairie Arthème Fayard, 2010 In 1854, Alexandre Lazard moved to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

, France, where he opened an office to complement the U.S. business. The firm began advising the French government on gold buying. In 1870, the firm continued to expand its international operations, opening an office in London as well. The name "Lazard Freres" means "Lazard Brothers" or "the Brothers Lazard" in French. It refers to associations of the Lazard brothers to form various financial services institutions with world-wide offices and investments.

The Three Houses of Lazard

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the firm evolved into three “Houses of Lazard” in the United States, France, and the United Kingdom, separately managed but allied. The Lazard partners advised clients on financial matters and built a cross-border network of high-level relationships in business and government. Noted financial advisor George Blumenthal rose to prominence as the head of the U.S. branch of Lazard Frères and was a partner of Lazard Frères in France. In the economic boom following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the American operations of Lazard expanded significantly under the leadership of the financier

André Meyer André Benoît Mathieu Meyer (September 3, 1898 – September 9, 1979) was a French-American investment banker. Biography Meyer was born to a low-income Jewish family in Paris. As a boy, he began following the workings of the stock market and ...

. Meyer and Lazard partner

Felix Rohatyn Felix George Rohatyn ( ; May 29, 1928 – December 14, 2019) was an American investment banker and diplomat. He spent most of his career with Lazard, where he brokered numerous large corporate mergers and acquisitions from the 1960s throug ...

have been credited with virtually inventing the modern mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market. In 1953, Lazard Investors Ltd began an asset management business in London, which is the origin of today's Lazard Asset Management.

A Unified Firm

In 1977, as the health of Meyer began to deteriorate, the firm came to be controlled by

Michel David-Weill Michel David-Weill (November 23, 1932 – June 16, 2022) was an investment banker and Chairman of Lazard and Eurazeo. Early life Michel David-Weill was born into a Jewish family on November 23, 1932. His father, Pierre David-Weill (1900–1975) ...

. Under his leadership, the three houses of Lazard were formally united in 2000 as Lazard LLC.William Cohan, ''Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Frères & Co'', Doubleday, 2007 In 2002, David-Weill hired

Bruce Wasserstein Bruce Jay Wasserstein (December 25, 1947 – October 14, 2009) was an American investment banker, businessman, and writer. He was a graduate of the McBurney School, University of Michigan, Harvard Business School, and Harvard Law School, and sp ...

to be CEO. Lazard became a public company in 2005, with nearly two-thirds of its shares owned by current and former employees. Wasserstein became its first Chairman and CEO. In connection with the

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...

(IPO), Lazard spun off its broker-dealer business, Lazard Capital Markets. Following Wasserstein's death in 2009, Lazard's Board of Directors elected

Kenneth M. Jacobs Kenneth M. Jacobs (born September 1958) is an American business executive. He was the CEO and chairman of Lazard from 2009 until September 2023, when he became executive chairman. Biography Born September 1958, Jacobs received a B.A. in econom ...

as Chairman and CEO.

Independence Point Advisors

Lazard invested in a startup investment bank, Independence Point Advisors, in late 2021. Independence Point Advisors was founded by Anne Clarke Wolff, previously a Bank of America executive and banker, and aspires to remain owned by women and minorities. The bank was nicknamed "Salomon Sisters" prior to its launch, in a reference to the defunct investment bank

Salomon Brothers Salomon Brothers, Inc., was an American multinational bulge bracket investment bank headquartered in New York. It was one of the five largest investment banking enterprises in the United States and the most profitable firm on Wall Street duri ...

Business Overview

Financial Advisory

Lazard advises clients on a wide range of strategic and financial issues. These may include advising on the potential acquisition of another company, business or certain assets, or on the sale of certain businesses, assets or an entire company. The firm also advises on alternatives to a sale such as recapitalizations, spin-offs, carve-outs and split-offs. For companies in financial distress or their creditors, Lazard advises on all aspects of restructuring. The firm has advised on many of the largest restructuring assignments in the wake of the global financial crisis that began in mid-2007. Lazard also advises on capital structure and capital raising. Capital structure advice includes reviewing and analyzing structural alternatives and assisting in long-term planning. Capital raising advice includes private and public market financing. Lazard's Sovereign Advisory group advises governments and sovereign entities on policy and financial issues.

Asset Management

Lazard's asset management business provides

investment management Investment management is the professional asset management of various securities, including shareholdings, bonds, and other assets, such as real estate, to meet specified investment goals for the benefit of investors. Investors may be instit ...

and financial advisory services to institutional clients, financial intermediaries, private clients, and investment vehicles around the world. The firm manages assets on behalf of institutional clients (

corporations A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and ...

labor unions A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

, public

pension fund A pension fund, also known as a superannuation fund in some countries, is any plan, fund, or scheme which provides retirement income. Pension funds typically have large amounts of money to invest and are the major investors in listed and priva ...

s, endowments,

foundations Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good caus ...

insurance companies Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

, and banks; and through sub-advisory relationships,

mutual fund A mutual fund is a professionally managed investment fund that pools money from many investors to purchase securities. The term is typically used in the United States, Canada, and India, while similar structures across the globe include the SICAV ...

sponsors,

broker-dealer In financial services, a broker-dealer is a natural person, company or other organization that engages in the business of trading securities for its own account or on behalf of its customers. Broker-dealers are at the heart of the securities and ...

s and registered advisors) and individual clients (principally

family office A family office is a privately held company that handles investment management and wealth management for a wealthy family, generally one with at least $50-$100 million in investable assets, with the goal being to effectively grow and transfer w ...

s and

high-net-worth individual High-net-worth individual (HNWI) is a term used by some segments of the financial services industry to designate persons whose investible wealth (assets such as stocks and bonds) exceeds a given amount. Typically, these individuals are define ...

s).

Office Locations

The bank operates from more than 41 cities across 26 countries. *

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

* Bogota *

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the Capital city, capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata ...

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small land ...

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

Manama Manama ( ar, المنامة ', Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 200,000 people as of 2020. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is home to a very d ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), an ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

México City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of Mex ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with list of lakes in Minneapolis, thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabit ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...

Riyadh Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, Literal translation, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi Arabic, Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyad ...

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, who ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

* Stockholm * Sydney *

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich () i ...

, the Lazard offices were located successively at 17, boulevard Poissonnière (1885-1907); 5-7, rue Pillet-Will (1907-1979); 141, boulevard Haussmann (1979-2020); and 175, boulevard Haussmann (since September 2020). Lazard's New York City headquarters spans the top floors of

30 Rockefeller Plaza 30 Rockefeller Plaza (officially the Comcast Building; formerly RCA Building and GE Building) is a skyscraper that forms the centerpiece of Rockefeller Center in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Completed in 1933, the 66-s ...

, including what used to be

Room 5600 30 Rockefeller Plaza (officially the Comcast Building; formerly RCA Building and GE Building) is a skyscraper that forms the centerpiece of Rockefeller Center in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Completed in 1933, the 66- ...

, the former offices of the

Rockefeller family The Rockefeller family () is an American industrial, political, and banking family that owns one of the world's largest fortunes. The fortune was made in the American petroleum industry during the late 19th and early 20th centuries by broth ...

dynasty. File:PilletWill5.jpg, 5-7, rue Pillet-Will, Paris File:Haussmann121.jpg, 121, boulevard Haussmann, Paris File:HaussmannLazard.jpg, 175, boulevard Haussmann, Paris

Management

Past Chairmen

*Alexandre Lazard, Lazare Lazard and

(founders) *Alexandre Weill * David David-Weill * Pierre David-Weill *

* Ken Costa *

Board of Directors

Lazard's board of directors as of November 2022. *

Andrew Alper Andrew Alper was the President of the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC). President of the New York City Economic Development Corporation Mr. Alper was appointed as President on January 15, 2002 by New York City Mayor Micha ...

* Ann-Kristin Achleitner * Richard N. Haass * Michelle Jarrard * Iris Knobloch * Philip Laskawy * William M. Lewis, Jr *

Jane Mendillo Jane L. Mendillo is an American investor, endowment fund manager, and philanthropist. She was the president and chief executive officer of the Harvard Management Company, charged with managing Harvard University's endowment. She led the investme ...

Richard Parsons Richard Parsons may refer to: * Richard Parsons (diplomat) (1928–2016), British ambassador to Hungary, Spain and Sweden * Richard Parsons (businessman) (born 1948), former chairman of Citigroup and the former Chairman and CEO of Time Warner * Ri ...

Notable Current and Former Employees

Business

Politics and Public Service

Other

* George J. Ames – philanthropist, former general partner of Lazard *

Paul Baerwald Paul Baerwald (September 27, 1871 – July 2, 1961) was a German-born Jewish-American banker and philanthropist. Early life and family Baerwald was born on September 27, 1871 in Frankfurt-on-Main, Germany, the son of Dr. Herman Baerwald and Selma ...

- banker and philanthropist, Chairman of the

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, also known as Joint or JDC, is a Jewish relief organization based in New York City. Since 1914 the organisation has supported Jewish people living in Israel and throughout the world. The organization i ...

* William D. Cohan - Contributing editor at Fortune, Award-winning author

Books

* * * *

References

External links

*
Lazard Asset Management
{{Authority control Investment banks in the United States Banks established in 1848 Financial services companies established in 1848 Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange 1848 establishments in Louisiana Lazard family