Michel David-Weill (November 23, 1932 – June 16, 2022) was an investment banker and Chairman of Lazard and Eurazeo.

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 (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.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 Nazi Germany, Nazis during the Second World War and over 2000 items ...

, 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, 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 (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.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, Felix Rohatyn, 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, Felix Rohatyn, 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 aspec ...

advising to areas such as asset management and

municipal bond A municipal bond, commonly known as a muni, is a 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 bonds is often, ...

. 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 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 Felix Rohatyn to become the U.S. Ambassador to France, 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, Ho ...

, Gerald Rosenfeld for Rothschild & Co. 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 sp ...

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, 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