First published 2008
For more than a century and a half, Lazard Frères operated as Wall Street's most exclusive investment bank. William Cohan chronicles how a succession of financial titans built their fortunes within its secretive halls. Felix Rohatyn fled Nazi-occupied France to become a dealmaking genius. Michel David-Weill ruled the firm like a French Sun King from his billionaire perch. Steve Rattner arrived from Long Island as a rising star but clashed with established powers. Bruce Wasserstein earned the nickname "Bid-Em-Up Bruce" by shattering the bank's genteel traditions while accumulating vast personal wealth. Cohan, drawing from his own experience as a senior Wall Street banker, reveals how these men accumulated incredible riches through ruthless deal-making. Their massive egos eventually threatened the very institution they had built. The book exposes the feuds, excesses, and whispered machinations that defined this elite financial world.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, business, non-fiction, 21st-century, finance
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: power-dynamics, rise-and-fall
Setting: France, Long Island, Wall Street
Period: 21st Century, 20th Century
ebook · Penguin