The Last Tycoons: The Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Frères & Co.

When Bill, an old friend, told me he was writing a book about Lazard, I thought, "Who will care?" I was ignorant. My only obligation was to buy the book, not to read it. Even if I had not known the author, I would not have been able to put this book down. Writing is a lonely pursuit, and the endless thought and organization, the hundreds of interviews on both sides of the Atlantic, the researching and re-drafting, all make the author's dedication, and the reader's, worthwhile. Lazard was truly the first global Wall Street firm. Andre Meyer, the brilliant global pioneer, comes to life. Felix Rohatyn, away from the deserved platitudes, is complex; Michel David-Weill Machiavellian. Bruce Wasserstein, prototypically capitalist, can exist only on Wall Street. Steve Rattner alone comes across as someone for whom an investment banker would want to work. The rudderless leadership for decades, the infighting among the partners, the lack of organizational cohesion all bar the firm from the top tier. The extraordinary access Cohan had to the principals and many others suggest there was much to tell. Cohan's natural wit and cynicism spice the story. Some have criticized the author for using secondary sources. As one who did not read many of those articles, I was delighted he included them. That Wasserstein alone did not cooperate further excuses Cohan from consulting secondary sources to complete the tale.

Lazard is one of the Investment Banks , I mean Full service Investment Banks that run today. All other Investment Banks like Goldman Sachs and Morgan stanley have changed in to Bank holding companies . The reason why Lazard Stands today is that , it has only two lines of buisness and it employs very little amount of capital than other IB. Lazard has been the pioneer in M&A Business and first made that Advice to a corporation can make money to a firm And today , you can see M&A business as a trillion dolllar business generating millions of dollars of fees to the Investment Banks. That's what Lazard has been the legend , and even if you see , most of the high profile deals have Lazard Bankers on their side. Lazard is a French bank as you can see in the book how they turned the small institution in to one of the biggest Investment Banks in the World. The pioneers are Andre Meyer and Felix Rohatyn and Lazard was the only firm that advised the worlds largest conglomerate at that time ITT. Given their strong European Heritage , Lazard was the first Investment Bank That Focused on Cross Border Financial Dealing especially after World War2 on a large scale esepecially with Italy's Mediobanca. The story I liked very much about is their top most deal making . Andre Meyer , the one who commanded great Respect and Fear Inside the firm liked to make money by Investing the Partners money in to lot of deals. BUT his protege , Felix Rohatyn always liked to do Deal making than Making money by Investing the partners money . I would say that Felix Rohatyn was the most powerful Investment Banker of his era and he smoothly collides with those in the top in Buisness and Politics. There was Always power struggle , Ego Clashes and scandals in the Bank since Lazard was not Goldman Sachs where the name speaks to clients ahead of partners , but in Lazard , the rain maker of thr firm were two or three guys , and they are very egosiitic about it. COHAN really takes you to the deep intricacies off deal making , High Finance, Cross border deals , Power , Politics , and where Lazard stands Today. He done an excellent Jon, and since its an Financial Investigative Journalism, and he is the best story teller of Wall Street Like Michael LEWIS. THis book is very long 400+ pages , but if you wanted to learn more about Wall street and High Finance , i highly recommend you to read this book. And Finally, If you wanted to suceeed in Wall street , you have to be a monester , and that's what Cohan said about the reality .

The book is a forensic deep dive into the inner workings of one of Wall Street’s most discreet powerhouses, unmasking the firm’s “Great Men” culture, titanic boardroom battles, and the seismic shift from private partnership to public company. It traces Lazard’s journey from 19th century roots, when the Lazarus brothers operated as transatlantic advisers, to its 2005 initial public offering under Bruce Wasserstein, including: - Felix Rohatyn’s rise as the consummate dealmaker, saving New York City and shaping corporate America. - Michel David-Weill’s stewardship as the inscrutable “Sun King,” balancing French tradition with American ambition. - Steve Rattner’s feuds with the old guard and his battles over compensation, influence, and status. - Bruce Wasserstein’s audacious takeover, turning Lazard into a public company and forever altering its ethos. The book highlight's Wasserstein’s multi hundred million dollar payday, after burning through $320 million of capital during his hiring spree prior to the IPO, igniting controversy over partner pay outs, setting off lawsuits and fracturing the old guard. The book show's Lazard’s core advisory and asset-management engines were self-funding, yet the IPO delivered a lump-sum goodwill pay out to legacy partners, crystallising tensions between ongoing earnings and one-time equity gains. For those fascinated by M&A dynamics, partnership governance, and the human drama behind marquee deals, the book is well worth reading.

I was recommended this book. Overall, I enjoyed the reading of the book as it really was a comprehensive history of Lazard. You really got to understand the different personalities within the firm. I just though that it was longer than it needed to be and there was excessive talk about compensation that got old after a while.

A fascinating tale, well told. You don't need to know any jargon and the author is very good at explaining any complex issues. It really is amazing just how unpleasant most of these people were. Also many of them seemed to be pretty incompetent. I think that some people might find it to be perhaps a bit too long and it can be a bit uneven. There are lots of great anecdotes and unusual characters in the book. It shows that Investment banking has probably always attracted the "morally challenged"