The last tycoons: the secret history of Lazard Frères & Co
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"Blood is everywhere": Forbes, February 5, 1990.
"He didn't see that": Ward, "Lazard's Clash of the Titans."
"Bruce had incredible leverage": Fortune, March 14, 1988.
"I thought Wasserstein was out of line": Ibid.
"If you shoot him": Ward, "Lazard's Clash of the Titans."
"It was smoke": Fortune, March 14,1988.
"lowered both his eyes": Michael Lewis, Liar's Poker (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), p. 226n.
"The memo came in": Interview with Mike Biondi, December 2, 2005.
"I was really pissed": Ibid.
"Wasserstein was embarrassed": Fortune, March 14, 1988.
"Chuck's obviously reading from a script": Interview with Biondi, December 2, 2005.
"They can make a few phone calls": Los Angeles Times, February 3, 1988.
"I'm in Boston": Interview with Dan Okrent, January 7, 2006.
"I didn't give a shit": Ward, "Lazard's Clash of the Titans."
"For 18 months we were golden": Ibid.
"fraud upon the board": Newsweek, July 10, 1989; and Forbes, August 7,1989.
"Macmillan shareholders received a spectacular price": Newsweek, July 10,1989.
"What advantage would Wasserstein": "Bid-'Em-Up Bruce," Forbes, August 7, 1989.
"right up there with the best": Newsweek, July 10, 1989.
"It was the first time I'd ever really": Interview with Fred Seegal, April 18,2005.
"All at one time": "Bid-'Em-Up Bruce."
"carefully cultivated image": Ibid.
"Mr. Wasserstein has found himself": WSJ, December 11, 1989.
"was the principal architect": Ibid.
"I don't think the company is worth": WSJ, July 11, 1990.
"The minute we came back from lunch" and the story of Edwin Bohl: Donald Barlett and James Steele, America: What Went Wrong? (New York: Andrews and McMeel, 1992), p. 29.
"I'd like to thank all of you": WSJ, January 11, 1990.
"The idea was to get the deal done": WSJ, February 11, 1991.
"Wasserstein knowingly failed to stop": Forbes, February 5, 1990.
"It was like playing three-dimensional chess": NYT, April 2, 1988.
"The financing was not done on a timely basis": BusinessWeek, October 2,1989.
"Campeau is said to have raged": Davis, "Wall Street's Wonder Boys."
"People invent a simple, convenient fiction": Ibid.
"What he was always best at": Joe Nocera, "Barbarian's End," GQ, May 1991.
fifty-five-hundred-word excerpt: Bryan Burrough and John Helyar, "Inside History's Biggest Takeover," WSJ, January 4, 1990.
"Consequently, they do know": Bruce Wasserstein, letter to the editor, WSJ, January 11, 1990.
"show of fighting back": Interview with Bryan Burrough.
"Kravis had to know the damage": Nocera, "Barbarian's End."
"Requests for interviews get shunted": Christopher Byron, New York, February 5, 1990.
"in a slump": M, Inc., September 1990.
"second opinion on price and structure": WSJ, November 27, 1990.
"didn't want to disturb Ovitz": Ibid.
"All in all, the incident made": Nocera, "Barbarian's End."
"Nietzsche's whole posit": Interview with a friend of BW.
"He was very decisive": Interview with a friend of BW.
"is just another acquisition for Bruce": Interview with a friend of BW.
"He did this against the advice": Ward, "Lazard's Clash of the Titans."
"History has shown": Interview with a friend of BW.
"Bruce on the investment side": Ward, "Lazard's Clash of the Titans."
"All of a sudden, I read": Davis, "Wall Street's Wonder Boys."
"If you think I'm bitter": Interview with a former partner of BW.
"brutal": Ward, "Lazard's Clash of the Titans."
"Claude is very charming, and very funny": Ibid.
Chapter 20. Civil War
"I don't care about it": Sunday Telegraph, November 18, 2001.
"He's so pompous": Interview with Jon Wood, February 1, 2005.
"The politics are over at Lazard": Numerous press reports, including WSJ, November 13, 2002.
"Anyone who says that": Sunday Telegraph, November 18, 2001.
"What's that French song?": Ibid.
"He introduces himself": Interview with a Lazard partner.
"It was deflating": Interview with Ken Jacobs, October 31, 2005.
"It was a big deal": Ibid.
"That was the collapse": Ibid.
After Loomis calmed Tashjian down: Interview with WL, MDW, and other Lazard partners.
"The problem with Lazard": Landon Thomas Jr., "Will Lazard Make It?" New York Observer, December 10, 2001.
"publicly humiliated": AE, undated notes around December 2001.
"is a disaster": Ibid.
"Okay, now I'm the boss": Interview with a Lazard partner.
"He had no choice": Interview with a Lazard partner.
complained about the "hold" music: Interview with a Lazard partner.
new management team: Lazard press release, January 3, 2002.
"according to Lazard calculations": NYT, January 4, 2002.
"new fandangos": WSJ, January 3,2002.
"BW will take over from MDW": Summary of "Lazard LLC Third Amended and Restated Operating Agreement."
"Heads of House": Ibid.
"you will lose all the A-2 goodwill": Scott Hoffman to recipients of the third amended agreements, January 10, 2002.
"In thinking about the end game": Memo circulating among Lazard partners.
six bankers from DKW: Numerous press reports, including WSJ, January 10,2002.
"With super rich contracts": Lazard chat room on Vault.com, February 17,2002.
Details of Weinstock, Herenstein, and Santana's departure: Lazard Debt Recovery GP et al., plaintiffs, vs. Michael A. Weinstock and Andrew J. Herenstein, defendants (CA no. 19503), as filed and adjudicated in the Court of Chancery in the state of Delaware, and Weinstock and Herenstein, plaintiffs, vs. Lazard Debt Recovery GP et al., defendants (CA No. 20048), also in the Court of Chancery.
"I've never sued anybody": Interview with MDW, December 1, 2004.
"And then within minutes": Ibid.
"People are cheap at the moment": Financial Times, December 6, 2002.
"No more politics": WSJ, November 13, 2002, and numerous press reports.
"I'm gone": Interviews with Lazard partners.
"Historically, people had talked about the business": "Dressing Up Lazard," Bloomberg Magazine, February 2003.
"He's the only guy": Interview with Al Garner.
"After this, no corporate financier": Financial News, July 21, 2002.
"Recent layoffs of MDs were necessary": Lazard chat room on Vault.com, July 27, 2002.
"Morale is pretty low": Ibid., August 3, 2002.
"some of the plushest used by any investment bank": Daily Telegraph, May 3, 2004.
malfunctioning telephone system: Financial News, July 6, 2003.
"Instead of a dimly lit waiting room": "Dressing Up Lazard."
"Michel was torn about that": Interview with a Lazard partner.
"Bruce was on a spending spree": Interview with a Lazard partner.
"Liquidity doesn't last forever": Interview with a Lazard partner.
Details of Intesa's 2002 investment in Lazard and its unwinding in 2006: Numerous press reports, including WSJ, September 10, 2002, and Lazard public filings.
"We have a spiritual ethos": Financial Times, December 6, 2002.
"When you look across Wall Street": Ibid.
"Some people see talented people as difficult": WSJ, November 13, 2002.
"reinvested extensively in our future": Mike Castellano memorandum, January 30, 2003.
"good year" in 2002 "in a difficult environment": Ibid.
"memorandum capital deferred compensation": Ibid.
"Bullshit capital": Interview with a Lazard partner
.
"Michel wasn't going to watch": Interview with a Lazard partner.
Communist revolution in the right ventricle: Interview with David Verey, November 10, 2005.
Details of Lazard's controversial hiring of the Merrill Lynch bankers and the lawsuit that followed: Supreme Court, State of New York, New York County, Merrill Lynch, petitioner, and Lazard Freres & Co. et al., respondents (index no. 600867/03), February-April 2003. Also Lazard's countersuit (index no. 601159/03). Also NASD arbitration no. 03-01-01484.
"So what? There are lawsuits all the time": Interview with a Lazard partner.
"I'm very appreciative that Hancock": WSJ, September 30, 1993.
"to do one last deal": "Dressing Up Lazard."
"I wish I had Lazard's asset management franchise": Financial Times, December 6, 2002.
Lazard Asset Management IPO idea: Numerous press reports, including Financial Times, February 6, 2003, and December 6 and 5, 2002.
"What can I do to get you to stay?": Institutional Investor, February 12, 2004.
"Norman Eig misread": Financial Times, February 6, 2003.
"What happened at LAM": Institutional Investor, February 12, 2004.
"Bruce came in and they started to talk": Interview with Ken Wilson, February 3, 2005.
"worst business meeting he ever had": Interview with a Lazard partner.
"sleazoid": Interview with Wilson, February 3, 2005.
"it's just generally known": Ibid.
"It has to be considered brilliant": Daily Deal, December 16, 2003.
"What do you gain": Newsweek, February 23, 2004.
"It basically goes to confidence": Ibid.
"maddeningly vague": NYT, December 18, 2003.
"Certainly, if you look at it": NYT, December 22, 2003.
"It's really weird": New York Observer, December 22, 2003.
"A lot of them are big ego trips": NYT, December 18, 2003.
"At best, the magazine": Ibid.
"approximately $2.0 billion": Wasserstein & Co. Web site.
"Mr. Wasserstein has stated": New York Observer, January 5, 2004, p. 4.
"I think that Bruce was surprised": NYT, December 18, 2003.
"just to be clear, Media Maneuvers": Yvette Kantrow, Media Maneuvers, Daily Deal, January 9, 2004.
"everybody, i am happy to announce": E-mail from Adam Moss to staff of New York, July 14, 2005.
"There's a view at the big firms": WSJ, November 13, 2002.
"after twenty-five years of blowing cigar smoke": Financial Times, February 20, 2004.
"The capital partners are concerned": Interview with a Lazard banker.
"You can understand that the capitalists": Financial News, January 2004.
"You'd go to a board meeting": "The Taking of Lazard," BusinessWeek, November 6, 2006.
"cordial": Interview with MDW, January 12, 2005.
"Bruce has done a decent job": New York Post, February 23, 2004.
"If you hire a brash": Matthew Lynn, Bloomberg.com, February 25, 2004.
"Mr. Wasserstein is head of Lazard": Financial Times, March 8, 2004.
"ungentlemanly tussle": Financial Times, March 5, 2004.
"hyperkinetic": BusinessWeek, February 24, 2003.
"I am gratified by the relationship": MDW in Eurazeo 2003 annual report.
"If Lazard goes back to delivering": Daily Telegraph, March 9, 2004.
"Because we have not highlighted": Mike Castellano memorandum, March 12, 2004.
"Lazard management is currently leading": WSJ, April 2, 2004.
"window dressing": Interview with MDW, November 30, 2005.
"we have been told that this year": Financial Times, April 3, 2004.
"all votes on issues": Ibid.
"There were differences over the timing": Press reports, including Dow Jones newswires, of the Eurazeo meeting, May 5, 2004.
"According to the financial statements": MDW memorandum, May 11,2004.
"With regard to the notice": BW memorandum, May 14, 2004.
"This is Michel's greatest nightmare": Interview with a Lazard partner.
"muscle memory": Ibid.
"Mr. Wasserstein is more interested": Economist, February 26, 2004.
Lazard had started interviewing underwriters: Investment Dealers' Digest, May 24, 2004.
"besieged" by bankers: Financial Times, June 16, 2004.
"We are listening and evaluating": Financial Times, June 16, 2004.
"We do expect significantly": Ibid.
"If he doesn't come up with a plan": Ibid.
"An IPO could...solve one of": WSJ, June 17, 2004.
"Even if Lazard does one day plump": Financial Times, June 16, 2004.
"put aside" their "long-standing differences": Le Monde, June 25, 2004.
"the two men agreed": Ibid.
"He yearns to be an industrialist": Financial Times, October 9, 2004.
Steve Golub's role as intermediary: Interviews with Ken Jacobs (December 6,2005) and Steve Golub (October 31 and December 2, 2005).
"When we first started out": Interview with Golub, October 31, 2005.
"Not good": Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, WSJ, July 14, 2004.
"No firm decision has been made": WSJ, August 20, 2004.
buy the combined 36 percent: Emily Thornton, "The End Game at Lazard," BusinessWeek, August 26, 2004.
"David-Weill is one of the wiliest": Bloomberg News, August 27, 2004.
"crazy": Interview with a Lazard partner.
"It's a mess": Ibid.
"We don't want to go from having a king": Financial Times, October 4, 2004.
"Rumpled, ruthless, Bid 'Em Up Bruce": New York Observer, September 20, 2004.
Bruce gave a presentation: Press reports (see WSJ, September 27, 2004) and interviews with Lazard partners.
"The public is going to be along": WSJ, September 27, 2004.
"There are several issues": New York Observer, September 20, 2004.
"People fearful for their jobs": Interview with a Lazard partner.
"We are not going to sign under duress": Financial Times, October 3, 2004.
"I would completely agree with that": Sunday Telegraph, October 10, 2004.
"We're paying Michel out at a premium": WSJ, October 4, 2004.
"He was shocked and not very excited": Interview with a Lazard partner.
"serene ambience": Financial Times, October 6, 2004.
"floating a company like Lazard": Ibid.
"I remember being surprised": Interview with MDW, January 31, 2005.
"They are all at a canonical age": Le Nouvel Observateur, October 14, 2004.
"Now he has to consult": WSJ, October 6, 2004.
"Many of us are already rich": October 6, 2004.
"For Bruce it's a great deal": Interview with a Lazard partner.
"Bruce seems very sure of himself": Financial Times, October 9, 2004.
"the firm is in a complete state of disarray": NYT, October 5, 2004.
"putting lipstick on a pig": NYT, October 3, 2004.
"We have informed the capitalists": BW to Lazard partners, October 5, 2004.
"I'm wedded to history": Business-Week, November 6, 2006.
"It is less a charm offensive": Sunday Telegraph, October 10, 2004.
"He draws energy": Financial Times, October 9, 2004.
"When you hire an investment bank": Financial Times, October 7, 2004.
"As far as I'm concerned": Sunday Times, October 17, 2004.
"The people who are suffering": WSJ, October 13, 2004.
"After having consulted with my partners": MDW e-mail to BW, October 22, 2004.
"If I just say no": Interview with MDW, January 12, 2005.
"Michel tried to find a successor": Interview with Jean-Claude Haas, February 1, 2005.
"strong belief in the future of Lazard": MDW e-mail to BW, October 21, 2004.
"satisfied that enough of the partners": Financial Times, October 21, 2004.
"I was very pleased to learn of
your decision": BW e-mail to MDW, October 21, 2004.
Chapter 21. "The End of a Dynasty"
"Everyone then knew this was a stress sell": Interview with a Lazard banker.
"Frenchman who was prepared": Vicky Ward, "Lazard's Clash of the Titans," Vanity Fair, April 2005.
"Absolutely. But Wasserstein had the money": Interview with Jean-Claude Haas, February 1, 2005.
"The conditions are not seen as that important": Times (London), October 22,2004.
"just trying to do what is best for the firm": Financial Times, October 23, 2004.
"blessed with the psychological trait": WSJ, December 7, 2004.
"We have to be as unselfish": Ibid.
"an extra steel beam and a cement support": Ibid.
"better, more intimate relationship": Interview with MDW, November 15,2006.
"very good about the letters I wrote in May": Ibid.
"I feel good about my letters, too": Ibid.
"the history of ambiguity": Ibid.
"There are clearly two different points of view": Ward, "Lazard's Clash of the Titans."
"an act of faith": Interview with Jean-Claude Haas, February 1, 2005.
Lazard's financial performance: S-1 document, December 17, 2004.
"So we're at the beginning of a resurgence": BW lecture at Yale University School of Management, September 29, 2005.
"His timing as always is exquisite": Bloomberg, December 17, 2004.
"I'll be stunned": Interview with Damon Mezzacappa.
"First of all, I think Bruce": Interview with FGR, January 3, 2005.
"I was wrong": Interview with FGR, October 17, 2006.
"I'm very uncertain it will occur": Interview with MDW, January 12, 2005.
"The tax part was only": Financial Times, December 20, 2004.
managing directors to sign so-called retention agreements: Lazard Ltd. S-1.
"I'd sure hate to be": Lazard chat room on Vault.com, December 24, 2004.
"following the hiring of new senior management": Lazard Ltd. S-1.
"These provisions [in the buyout agreement] are inappropriate": Correspondence between various Lazard partners, January 14, 2005.
"They believe in a strong attack": Ibid.
"Which is just not right": Interview with a Lazard partner.
"He was found at his Geneva home": Swiss press reports, March 2, 2005.
"I called my daughter Beatrice": Interview with MDW, April 12, 2005.
"He was rich, he got on people's nerves": Le Figaro, March 2, 2005.
"He was not only ruthless": Evening Standard (London), June 10, 2005.
"He was a discreet man": Tribune de Geneve, March 3, 2005.