Lazard, a global financial advisory and asset management firm, has appointed Kenneth Jacobs, as chairman of the board of directors and CEO. Mr Jacobs, formerly CEO of Lazard North America, succeeds Bruce Wasserstein, who passed away on October 14, 2009.
However, Steven Golub, who recently served as interim CEO, will continue as vice chairman of Lazard and chairman of its financial advisory group.
Lazard has also named Ashish Bhutani and Gary Parr for its board of directors and as vice chairmen of Lazard, effective January 4, 2010. Mr Bhutani will continue as chief executive of Lazard Asset Management and will continue to oversee Lazard’s asset management activities on a global basis. Additionally, Steven Heyer, a director since Lazard’s IPO in 2005, has been named as lead director, a new board position, effective immediately.
The firm has also appointed Antonio Weiss as global head of investment banking. Mr Jacobs will work in partnership with Mr Weiss and Alex Stern, who was recently named chief operating officer and the existing banking leadership in Europe and the US.
The board of directors of Lazard, said: “We unanimously selected Mr. Jacobs based on the balance of his vision, intellect and dynamism, his creativity building new businesses, his skills as a trusted advisor, collaborator and team leader, as well as his track record of client focus, growth, and operational excellence.
“We are confident that Mr. Jacobs will continue to successfully grow the firm, building on its enduring strategy of independence and intellectual capital, and will bring value to its clients, employees and shareholders.”
Mr Jacobs said: “I enjoyed working with Mr. Wasserstein immensely as we and our colleagues united to transform the firm. Together, with our leadership and colleagues in both the financial advisory and asset management businesses in Europe, the US and around the world, we have built an incomparable team of talent, and have unified Lazard into a cohesive, global firm focused on providing premium strategic financial advice and superior asset management solutions for our clients.
“We also have set our businesses on a strategic direction for growth and long-term value for our shareholders and our employees. We will continue to run our two businesses of financial advisory and asset management independently as we always have. I look forward to working with our global leadership team and all of my colleagues in Europe, the US and around the world in continuing the strategy that Mr Wasserstein and our team developed.”
