Editing Lazard (section)

==History==

===Early years===
On July 12, 1848, three French brothers, Alexandre Lazard, Lazare Lazard, and [[Simon Lazard]], founded Lazard Frères & Co. as a [[dry goods]] merchant store in [[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]]. By 1851, Simon and two more brothers, Maurice and Elie, had all moved to [[San Francisco]], 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 market|foreign exchange]].<ref name=Rougemont>Guy de Rougemont, Lazard Frères, Banquiers des Deux Mondes (1840–1939), Librairie Arthème Fayard, 2010</ref>

In 1854, Alexandre Lazard moved to [[Paris]], 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.<ref name=Rougemont/>

The name "Lazard Frères" 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 (banker)|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.<ref name=Rougemont/>

In the economic boom following [[World War II]], the American operations of Lazard expanded significantly under the leadership of the French financier [[André Meyer]]. Meyer and Lazard partner [[Felix Rohatyn]] have been credited with virtually inventing the modern [[mergers and acquisitions]] (M&A) market.<ref name="lazard.com">{{Cite web |title=Institutional Investor International Edition, November 2011 "The New House of Lazard" |url=http://www.lazard.com/media/16088/iimag_nov_2011_lazard.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509005542/http://www.lazard.com/media/16088/iimag_nov_2011_lazard.pdf |archive-date=May 9, 2013 |access-date=July 29, 2013}}</ref>

In 1953, Lazard Investors Ltd began an asset management business in London, which is the origin of today's Lazard Asset Management.<ref name="Lazard website - About Lazard">{{Cite web |title=Lazard website – About Lazard |url=http://www.lazard.com/about-lazard/history |access-date=July 26, 2013}}</ref>

===A unified firm===
In 1977, as the health of Meyer began to deteriorate, the firm came to be controlled by [[Michel David-Weill]]. Under his leadership, the three houses of Lazard were formally united in 2000 as Lazard LLC.<ref name="Cohan, The Last Tycoons">William Cohan, ''Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Frères & Co'', Doubleday, 2007</ref>

In 2002, David-Weill hired [[Bruce Wasserstein]] 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]] (IPO), Lazard spun off its broker-dealer business, Lazard Capital Markets.<ref name="lazard.com" />

Following Wasserstein's death in 2009, Lazard's board of directors elected [[Kenneth M. Jacobs]] as chairman and CEO.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 17, 2009 |title=Lazard Names Kenneth Jacobs as Its New Chief |work=The New York Times |url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/lazard-names-jacobs-as-chairman-and-ceo/}}</ref>

Lazard invested in a startup investment bank, Independence Point Advisors, in late 2021.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Schatzker |first1=Erik |title=Lazard Backs Wall Street Diversity With ‘Salomon Sisters’ Stake |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-22/lazard-backs-wall-street-diversity-with-salomon-sisters-stake?srnd=premium&sref=CIpmV6x8 |access-date=22 November 2021 |work=www.bloomberg.com |date=22 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Schatzker |first1=Erik |last2=Natarajan |first2=Sridhar |last3=Baker |first3=Liana |title=‘Salomon Sisters’ Is Coming to Wall Street, Backed by Lazard |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-24/-salomon-sisters-is-coming-to-wall-street-as-a-women-owned-bank?sref=CIpmV6x8 |access-date=22 November 2021 |date=24 September 2021}}</ref>

On May 26, 2023, the firm announced that [[Peter R. Orszag]], CEO of Financial Advisory, had been unanimously elected by its Board to serve as CEO of Lazard and as a Board Director, effective October 1, 2023.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 26, 2023 |title=Lazard Appoints Peter R. Orszag as CEO and Kenneth M. Jacobs as Executive Chairman |work=Lazard.com |url=https://www.lazard.com/news-announcements/lazard-appoints-peter-r-orszag-as-ceo-and-kenneth-m-jacobs-as-executive-chairman/}}</ref> Orszag became chief executive officer of Lazard on October 1, 2023.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hirsch |first1=Lauren |title=Lazard Names Peter Orszag to Succeed Ken Jacobs as C.E.O. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/26/business/dealbook/lazard-ceo-orszag.html |access-date=1 October 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=May 26, 2023}}</ref>

The publicly traded partnership Lazard Ltd was reincorporated under the [[Delaware General Corporation Law]] effective January 1, 2024 and changed its name from Lazard Ltd to Lazard, Inc.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lazard Ltd Completes Conversion to a U.S. C-Corporation and is Renamed Lazard, Inc. |url=https://www.lazard.com/news-announcements/lazard-ltd-completes-conversion-to-a-us-c-corporation-and-is-renamed-lazard-inc/ |access-date=2024-01-27 |website=Lazard.com |language=en}}</ref>

In 2025, Lazard and alternative credit firm Arini Capital Management have formed a strategic alliance to collaborate on sourcing and direct lending opportunities across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-03-25 |title=Lazard and alt credit firm Arini team up for EMEA direct lending deals |url=https://www.pionline.com/alternatives/lazard-arini-capital-management-team-emea-direct-lending-deals |access-date=2025-03-26 |website=Pensions & Investments |language=en}}</ref>