for other uses see lazard disambiguation . lazard ltd type public traded as nyse laz industry financial services founded 1848 ; 168 years ago 1848 new orleans louisiana u.s. founder alexandre lazard lazare lazard simon lazard headquarters hamilton bermuda incorporation 30 rockefeller plaza new york city new york united states operational key people kenneth m. jacobs chairman & ceo products financial services investment banking investment management revenue us 2.41 billion 2015 net income us 993 million 2015 aum us 186 billion 2015 number of employees 2 610 2015 website www.lazard.com lazard is a financial advisory and asset management firm that engages in investment banking asset management and other financial services primarily with institutional clients . its principal executive offices are in new york city paris and london . lazard was founded in 1848 and operates from 42 cities across 27 countries in north america europe asia australia central and south america . the firm provides advice on mergers and acquisitions strategic matters restructuring and capital structure capital raising and corporate finance as well as asset management services to corporations partnerships institutions governments and individuals . 1 contents 1 history 1.1 early years 1.2 the three houses of lazard 1.3 a unified firm 2 business overview 2.1 financial advisory 2.2 asset management 3 office locations 4 management 4.1 past chairmen 4.2 board of directors 5 notable current and former employees 5.1 business 5.2 politics and public service 5.3 other 6 books 7 see also 8 references 9 external links history edit lazard s largest office is at 30 rockefeller plaza new york city ny early years edit on july 12 1848 three french brothers alexandre lazare and simon lazard founded lazard fr res & 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 fr res began to serve miners engaged in the california gold rush and soon expanded into banking and foreign exchange . 2 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 . 2 the three houses of lazard edit in the late 1800s and early 1900s the firm evolved into three houses of lazard in the united states france and england 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 rose to prominence as the head of the u.s. branch of lazard fr res and was a partner of lazard fr res in france . 2 in the economic boom following world war ii the american operations of lazard expanded significantly under the leadership of the financier andr meyer . meyer and lazard partner felix rohatyn have been credited with virtually inventing the modern mergers and acquisitions m & a market . 3 in 1953 lazard investors ltd began an asset management business in london which is the origin of today s lazard asset management . 4 a unified firm edit 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 . 5 in 2002 david weill hired bruce wasserstein to be ceo . lazard became a public company with nearly two third of its shares owned by current and former employees in 2005 . 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 . 3 following wasserstein s sudden death in 2009 lazard s board of directors elected kenneth m. jacobs chairman and ceo . 6 business overview edit financial advisory edit lazard advises clients on a wide range of strategic and financial issues . these may include advising on the potential acquisition of another company business or certain assets or on the sale of certain businesses assets or an entire company . the firm also advises on alternatives to a sale such as recapitalizations spin offs carve outs and split offs . for companies in financial distress lazard advises on all aspects of restructuring . the firm has advised on many of the largest restructuring assignments in the wake of the global financial crisis that began in mid 2007 . 7 lazard also advises on capital structure and capital raising . capital structure advice includes reviewing and analyzing structural alternatives and assisting in long term planning . capital raising advice includes private and public market financing . lazard s sovereign advisory group advises governments and sovereign entities on policy and financial issues . 8 asset management edit lazard s asset management business provides investment management and financial advisory services to institutional clients financial intermediaries private clients and investment vehicles around the world . the firm manages assets on behalf of institutional corporations labor unions public pension funds endowments foundations insurance companies and banks ; and through sub advisory relationships mutual fund sponsors broker dealers and registered advisors and individual clients principally family offices and high net worth individuals . citation needed office locations edit the bank operates from 42 cities across 27 countries . 9 amsterdam beijing brussels bogota bordeaux boston buenos aires charlotte chicago dubai dublin frankfurt hamburg hong kong houston lima london los angeles lyon manama madrid melbourne milan minneapolis montreal mumbai nantes new york city panama city paris perth riyadh san francisco s o paulo santiago seoul singapore stockholm sydney tokyo toronto z rich management edit past chairmen edit alexandre lazard lazare lazard and simon lazard founders alexandre weill david david weill pierre david weill andr meyer michel david weill bruce wasserstein board of directors edit lazard s board of directors as of february 2015 . 10 kenneth m. jacobs andrew alper ashish bhutani steven j. heyer sylvia jay philip laskawy laurent mignon richard parsons hal s. scott michael j. turner notable current and former employees edit business edit marcus agius chairman of barclays robert agostinelli founder and chairman of rh ne group tim collins founder and ceo of ripplewood holdings disque deane chairman of starrett city associates mina gerowin first woman banker hired by lazard ; later managing director paulson europe llc sir philip hampton chairman of royal bank of scotland former chairman of sainsbury s and uk financial investments limited hugh kindersley 2nd baron kindersley chairman of lazard brothers london 1953 1964 sebastian kulczyk son of jan kulczyk board member of kulczyk investments steven langman founder & chairman of rh ne group jean marie messier chairman & ceo of vivendi 1996 2002 andre meyer famed american investment banker advisor to kennedy family president lyndon johnson archie norman chairman itv former chairman & ceo of asda nelson obus co founder of wynnefield capital gary parr american investment banker former head of m & a at morgan stanley mark pincus internet entrepreneur co founder of zynga lester pollack founder of private equity firm centre partners steven rattner venture capitalist co founder of quadrangle group gerald rosenfeld former ceo rothschild north america adjunct professor at nyu stern nathaniel rothschild co chairman of atticus capital llc bruce wasserstein american investment banker co founder of wasserstein perella thomas piquemal cfo of french energy corporation lectricit de france politics and public service edit jaime berm dez merizalde former colombian minister of foreign affairs ron bloom senior official in the obama administration robert henry brand 1st baron brand a member of milner s kindergarten robert fred ellsworth former u.s. congressman u.s. ambassador to nato deputy secretary of defense and nixon adviser vernon e. jordan jr. clinton adviser life member of the council of foreign relations paul keating former prime minister of australia robert kindersley 1st baron kindersley british public servant anne lauvergeon former diplomatic council to french president fran ois mitterrand ceo areva lord mandelson british politician held cabinet positions under both tony blair and gordon brown henrique de campos meirelles former president banco central do brasil andrew mitchell british member of parliament current secretary of state for international development peter r. orszag former omb director former cbo director vincent s. p rez philippine secretary of energy rodrigo de rato former spanish economy minister head of international monetary fund felix rohatyn u.s. ambassador to france 1997 2000 jenny sanford former first lady of south carolina simon sebag montefiore british historian and writer lindsay tanner former australian minister for finance and deregulation andr s velasco former finance minister of chile antonio weiss counselor to the secretary of the us treasury bill white former mayor of houston 3 terms and u.s. deputy secretary of energy under president bill clinton frank g. zarb energy czar under president gerald ford former chairman nasdaq smith barney bo idar eli former minister of finance of serbia ngozi okonjo iweala senior advisor former minister of finance nigeria former vice president corporate secretary of the world bank group . other edit william d. cohan contributing editor at fortune award winning author books edit de rougemont guy d. 2010 . lazard fr res banquiers des deux mondes 1840 1939 . paris fayard . isbn 978 2 213 66125 4 . cohan william d. 2007 . the last tycoons the secret history of lazard fr res & co. new york doubleday . isbn 0 385 51451 4 . geisst charles r 2001 . the last partnerships inside the great wall street money dynasties . new york mcgraw hill . isbn 0 07 136999 6 . reich cary 1983 . financier the biography of andr meyer a story of money power and the reshaping of american business . new york william morrow & co. isbn 0 688 01551 4 . see also edit solomon lazard who some claim founded lazard fr res references edit lazard ltd form 10 k annual report . nasdaq omx investor . february 25 2016 . a b c guy de rougemont lazard fr res banquiers des deux mondes 1840 1939 libraire arth me fayard 2010 a b insitutional investor international edition november 2011 the new house of lazard pdf . retrieved july 29 2013 . lazard website about lazard . retrieved july 26 2013 . william cohan last tycoons the secret history of lazard fr res & co doubleday 2007 lazard names kenneth jacobs as its new chief . the new york times . november 17 2009 . mccracken jeffrey january 14 2012 . lazard appoints kurtz restructuring chief after ridings savage . bloomberg . lazard reports 2013 fourth quarter earnings . retrieved march 17 2014 . lazard global offices . lazard . retrieved february 27 2015 . lazard website about lazard . retrieved february 27 2015 . external links edit lazard homepage lazard asset management wikinvest company profile links to related articles v t e lazard ltd. corporate directors robert clark steven heyer ellis jones vernon jordan jr. anthony orsatelli bruce wasserstein v t e investment banks bank divisions of universal banks bulge bracket bank of america merrill lynch barclays citi institutional clients group credit suisse deutsche bank corporate and investment bank j.p. morgan & co. j.p. morgan cazenove ubs investment bank other berenberg bank bmo capital markets boc international bnp paribas corporate & institutional banking brown shipley cibc world markets citic securities clsa commerzbank corporates & markets cr dit agricole corporate and investment bank daiwa securities capital markets everbank world markets harris williams & co. hsbc global banking and markets ing commercial banking is investment kbc bank korea development bank daewoo securities lloyds bank corporate markets mitsubishi ufj securities mizuho corporate bank natixis nomura securities rbc capital markets rbs markets & international banking sberbank cib soci t g n rale corporate & investment bank standard chartered td securities unicredit corporate