Michel David-Weill (November 23, 1932 – June 16, 2022) was an

investment banker Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated with ...

and Chairman of

Lazard Lazard Ltd (formerly known as Lazard Frères & Co.) is a financial advisory and asset management firm that engages in investment banking, asset management and other financial services, primarily with institutional clients. It is the world's lar ...

and

Eurazeo Eurazeo is a French investment company formed by the merger of Azeo and Eurafrance in April 2001. The company is headquartered in Paris. Eurazeo is a leading global investment group, with a diversified portfolio of €25.6 billion in assets und ...

Early life

Michel David-Weill was born into a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family on November 23, 1932. His father,

Pierre David-Weill Pierre David-Weill (8 March 1900 – 14 January 1975) was a French investment banker. Early life Pierre Sylvain Désiré Gérard David-Weill was born on 8 March 1900 in Paris, France, into a Jewish family. His father, David David-Weill (1871-195 ...

(1900–1975), was the chairman of Lazard Frères; his mother was Berthe Haardt. His great-grandfather, , worked at Lazard Frères, a firm co-founded by his cousins, Alexandre, Elie, and

Simon Lazard Simon Lazard (April 8, 1828 – February 24, 1898) was a Franco-American banker who co-founded Lazard Frères & Co., reorganized in 2000 as Lazard. A native of Lorraine, France, a young merchant of antebellum New Orleans, pioneer of the Californ ...

.Fortune Magazine: "Assault On The House Of Lazard" by Robert Lenzner
September 4, 2000 In 1900, his grandfather,

David David-Weill David David-Weill (1871–1952) was a French-American banker, chairman of Lazard Frères in Paris, who built an important collection of art. His collection was plundered by the Nazis during the Second World War and over 2000 items seized. He was ...

, was named a partner. In 1927, his father became a partner. Aged 8, at the dawn of the World War II he fled Paris with his mother and sister to save themselves from Nazis. Separated from his father, who was in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, David-Weill remained behind with his mother in occupied France. During the last year of Nazi occupation, at age 11, he lived with his mother and younger sister in the French village of

Béduer Béduer ( Languedocien: ''Beduèr'') is a commune in the Lot department in southwestern France. Pilgrimage Béduer is situated on the Via Podiensis route that is followed by those making the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella and so receive ...

(Lot, southwestern France), where they were baptized and raised as

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

(his father Pierre would later convert to Catholicism in 1965). Then he went to reunite with his father in New York City where he studied at the

Lycée Français de New York The Lycée Français de New York (LFNY), commonly called the Lycée (in English, "The French High School of New York"), is an independent bilingual French school serving an international community of students from Nursery-3 to twelfth grade based ...

with other war refugees such as Baron Pierre de Gunzburg. After

was over, he stayed in the United States to live in

with his family. David-Weill was also educated at the

Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , accreditation ...

.Academie de Beaux Artes: "Michel DAVID-WEILL
retrieved October 3, 2015

Career

David-Weill started his public life by serving in French military. In 1956, David-Weill joined Lazard Freres, and, in 1961, became a partner. Under the stewardship of the chairman of

André Meyer André Benoît Mathieu Meyer (September 3, 1898 – September 9, 1979) was a French-American investment banker. Biography Meyer was born to a low-income Jewish family in Paris. As a boy, he began following the workings of the stock market and ...

Felix Rohatyn Felix George Rohatyn ( ; May 29, 1928 – December 14, 2019) was an American investment banker and diplomat. He spent most of his career with Lazard, where he brokered numerous large corporate mergers and acquisitions from the 1960s through ...

, who handled acquisitions, and he himself, who was the bookkeeper, Lazard grew rapidly. In 1975, his father died and he inherited his equity stake in Lazard, becoming the largest stakeholder in both Lazard New York and Lazard Paris, while also holding stakes in Lazard London. In 1977, when Meyer became sick and Rohatyn turned down an offer to replace him, David-Weill was named chairman. He continued to work closely with managing director,

, who was also made senior partner at Lazard in 1961. Also, by the power provided in clause 4.1 of the Lazard partnership agreement, he alone had the power to set compensations and the right to fire any partners at his discretion. Under David-Weill's direction, Lazard began to expand its business from traditional

merger and acquisition Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

advising to areas such as asset management and

municipal bond A municipal bond, commonly known as a muni, is a Bond (finance), bond issued by state or local governments, or entities they create such as authorities and special districts. In the United States, interest income received by holders of municipal ...

. He also made numerous hires, including

Steven Rattner Steven Lawrence Rattner (born July 5, 1952) is a New York investment asset manager who served as lead adviser to the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry in 2009.

as well as

Kenneth Jacobs Sir Kenneth Sydney Jacobs KBE QC (5 October 1917 – 24 May 2015) was an Australian judge who served as a Justice of the High Court of Australia. Jacobs was born in 1917 in Gordon, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales. He was educated at Kno ...

the current Chairman of Lazard. Lazard's profits also jumped from $5 million in the late 1970s to $500 million in the late 1990s. David-Weill also reunited the three branches of Lazard by combining his stakes in Lazard New York and Paris, and a buyout of Pearson for its stake in Lazard London for more than $600 million. At the end of the 90's, after the departures of

to become the

U.S. Ambassador to France The United States ambassador to France is the official representative of the president of the United States to the president of France. The United States has maintained diplomatic relations with France since the American Revolution. Relations we ...

, Kendrick Wilson III for

Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...

Gerald Rosenfeld Gerald Rosenfeld is an American businessman, academic, and investment banker. He is well known as the former Head of Investment Banking of Lazard and as the former CEO of Rothschild North-America from 2000 to 2007. He is currently an Adjunct Pro ...

for

Rothschild & Co Rothschild & Co is a multinational investment bank and financial services company, and the flagship of the Rothschild banking group controlled by the French and British branches of the Rothschild family. The banking business of the firm covers th ...

. and other prominent dealmakers of the firm such as J. Ira Harris and

Steven Rattner Steven Lawrence Rattner (born July 5, 1952) is a New York investment asset manager who served as lead adviser to the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry in 2009.

. Lazard under the leadership of David-Weill was put under pressure. To strengthen Lazard, David-Weill offered Rohatyn the opportunity to return to Lazard in 2001 after his Ambassadorship ended. Rohatyn became Senior Advisor to Lazard and simultaneously created his own firm Rohatyn Associates to generate deals for Lazard. In November 2001, David-Weill hired

Bruce Wasserstein Bruce Jay Wasserstein (December 25, 1947 – October 14, 2009) was an American investment banker, businessman, and writer. He was a graduate of the McBurney School, University of Michigan, Harvard Business School, and Harvard Law School, and spe ...

as the CEO of Lazard. Rohatyn left when Wasserstein was appointed and went on to join Morgan Stanley, Rothschild & Co., and finally Lehman Brothers. Wasserstein recruited a number of bankers. Later Wasserstein wanted to take Lazard Asset Management public to finance the numerous hires in banking. Then Wasserstein decided to take the whole Lazard public against the wishes of the family patriarch. David-Weill later stated that he regretted ever having hired Wasserstein. David-Weill remained Chairman of Lazard until 2005. David-Weill left Lazard to concentrate on his holdings and other business, the famous investment vehicle Eurazeo. David-Weill was a director of

Groupe Danone A group is a military unit or a military formation that is most often associated with military aviation. Air and aviation groups The terms group and wing differ significantly from one country to another, as well as between different branches ...

, one of the world's largest food-product companies.

Personal life

In 1956, David-Weill married Hélène Marie Lehideux, daughter of Robert Lehideux. They had four children: Béatrice, married first to Bertrand de Villeneuve Bargemont and then to Édouard Stern; Cécile, married to Emmanuel Renom de La Baume; and Nathalie, married to Olivier Merveilleux du Vignaux and Agathe David-Weill. (See the entry in French Wikipedia, Famille David-Weill.) He was honored by the government of France, made a Commander of the

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

and a Commander of

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...

, the nation's highest cultural honor. Michel David-Weill died at his home in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

on June 16, 2022 at the age of 89.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:David-Weill, Michel 1932 births 2022 deaths Businesspeople from Paris French money managers French bankers American bankers American people of French-Jewish descent Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres French emigrants to the United States Sciences Po alumni Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Lycée Français de New York alumni Lazard family