Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette
Encyclopedia
Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette or DLJ is a defunct U.S. investment bank founded by William H. Donaldson
, Richard Jenrette
and Dan Lufkin in 1959. Its businesses included securities underwriting; sales and trading; investment and merchant banking; financial advisory services; investment research; venture capital; correspondent brokerage services; online, interactive brokerage services; and asset management.
In August 2000, DLJ (which was majority owned by AXA Financial
) announced that it was being bought by Credit Suisse
. The firm was headquartered at 277 Park Avenue
in New York City and employed 11,300 people as of July 2000.
securities. They gained this dominance in both underwriting and trading by astutely picking up most of the expertise from Drexel Burnham Lambert
after its demise in the late 1980s.
200px
DLJ's online brokerage business was first called the Personal Computer Financial Network (PCFN). It was later renamed DLJDirect in 1997. DLJDirect, was spun off from DLJ in 1999. Following DLJ's acquisition by Credit Suisse, DLJDirect was renamed CSFBDirect. CSFBDirect was renamed HarrisDirect after being sold to the Bank of Montreal in 2002 and was eventually re-sold to E-Trade in early 2006. The Pershing Division of DLJ (Harris) remained until being sold to the Bank of New York
in 2003.
Credit Suisse's acquisition of DLJ closed in November 2000 with a purchase price of approximately $11.5 billion. Credit Suisse
still uses the DLJ brand for its private equity
operations, such as DLJ Merchant Banking Partners
, DLJ Investment Partners & DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners entities.
DLJ may be best known to the general public as the investment bank portrayed in the book Monkey Business: Swinging Through the Wall Street Jungle, by John Rolfe and Peter Troob.
William H. Donaldson
William Henry Donaldson was the 27th Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission , serving from February 2003 to June 2005...
, Richard Jenrette
Richard Jenrette
Richard Hampton Jenrette was one the founders of the Wall Street firm, Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette .-Education and Business Career:...
and Dan Lufkin in 1959. Its businesses included securities underwriting; sales and trading; investment and merchant banking; financial advisory services; investment research; venture capital; correspondent brokerage services; online, interactive brokerage services; and asset management.
In August 2000, DLJ (which was majority owned by AXA Financial
AXA
AXA S.A. is a French global insurance group headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. AXA is a conglomerate of independently run businesses, operated according to the laws and regulations of many different countries. The AXA group of companies engage in life, health and other forms of...
) announced that it was being bought by Credit Suisse
Credit Suisse
The Credit Suisse Group AG is a Swiss multinational financial services company headquartered in Zurich, with more than 250 branches in Switzerland and operations in more than 50 countries.-History:...
. The firm was headquartered at 277 Park Avenue
277 Park Avenue
277 Park Avenue is an office building in New York City and is the current home of the JPMorgan Chase's Investment Banking Division. JP Morgan's takeover of Bear Stearns in 2008 will mean most employees will be moved to 383 Madison Avenue to reduce the leased real estate footprint in Midtown...
in New York City and employed 11,300 people as of July 2000.
History
Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette founded the firm on the principle that no one else on Wall Street was doing high quality independent corporate research. They not only centered the firm around this notion but ended up being one of the best ever. As research became more of a commodity throughout the 80s and 90s they had since expanded into other businesses. One of them was a dominance in high yield fixed incomeHigh-yield debt
In finance, a high-yield bond is a bond that is rated below investment grade...
securities. They gained this dominance in both underwriting and trading by astutely picking up most of the expertise from Drexel Burnham Lambert
Drexel Burnham Lambert
Drexel Burnham Lambert was a major Wall Street investment banking firm, which first rose to prominence and then was forced into bankruptcy in February 1990 by its involvement in illegal activities in the junk bond market, driven by Drexel employee Michael Milken. At its height, it was the...
after its demise in the late 1980s.
200px
DLJ's online brokerage business was first called the Personal Computer Financial Network (PCFN). It was later renamed DLJDirect in 1997. DLJDirect, was spun off from DLJ in 1999. Following DLJ's acquisition by Credit Suisse, DLJDirect was renamed CSFBDirect. CSFBDirect was renamed HarrisDirect after being sold to the Bank of Montreal in 2002 and was eventually re-sold to E-Trade in early 2006. The Pershing Division of DLJ (Harris) remained until being sold to the Bank of New York
Bank of New York
The Bank of New York was a global financial services company established in 1784 by the American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. It existed until its merger with the Mellon Financial Corporation on July 2, 2007...
in 2003.
Credit Suisse's acquisition of DLJ closed in November 2000 with a purchase price of approximately $11.5 billion. Credit Suisse
Credit Suisse
The Credit Suisse Group AG is a Swiss multinational financial services company headquartered in Zurich, with more than 250 branches in Switzerland and operations in more than 50 countries.-History:...
still uses the DLJ brand for its private equity
Private equity
Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....
operations, such as DLJ Merchant Banking Partners
DLJ Merchant Banking Partners
DLJ Merchant Banking Partners is a private equity investment firm focused on leveraged buyout transactions. The firm is currently an affiliate of Credit Suisse and traces its roots to Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, the investment bank acquired by Credit Suisse First Boston in 2000...
, DLJ Investment Partners & DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners entities.
DLJ may be best known to the general public as the investment bank portrayed in the book Monkey Business: Swinging Through the Wall Street Jungle, by John Rolfe and Peter Troob.
Notable alumni
- Safra A. CatzSafra A. CatzSafra A. Catz , an Israeli - American manager, has been a President of Oracle Corporation since January 2004 and a member of the company's Board of Directors since October 2001. She also served as the company's Chief Financial Officer from November 2005 to September 2008. She has been at Oracle...
— President of Oracle CorporationOracle CorporationOracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation that specializes in developing and marketing hardware systems and enterprise software products – particularly database management systems...
. - Joel Cohen — Co-Founder of Sagent AdvisorsSagent AdvisorsSagent Advisors is an independent investment bank specializing in mergers & acquisitions advisory services. The firm focuses on transactions in the several core industry sectors: consumer & retail, energy & power, financial institutions & managed care, industrial, media & telecommunications,...
. - Susan DeckerSusan DeckerSusan Lynne Decker served as president of Yahoo! Inc in 2007 and 2008, leading the operations of the company during Jerry Yang's reign as CEO.-Early history and personal life:...
— Former president of Yahoo!Yahoo!Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
Inc. - William H. DonaldsonWilliam H. DonaldsonWilliam Henry Donaldson was the 27th Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission , serving from February 2003 to June 2005...
— Former chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). - Bennett Goodman — Founder of hedge fund GSO Capital PartnersGSO Capital PartnersGSO Capital Partners is one of the largest credit-oriented alternative asset managers in the world and a major participant in the leveraged finance marketplace....
. - Henry JacksonHenry Jackson (businessman)Henry Jackson is a British-American businessman, who is Managing Partner and Chief Executive of OpCapita LLP, based in London...
— Founder of Merchant Equity Partners. - Hamilton James — President and COO of The Blackstone GroupBlackstone GroupThe Blackstone Group L.P. is an American-based alternative asset management and financial services company that specializes in private equity, real estate, and credit and marketable alternative investment strategies, as well as financial advisory services, such as mergers and acquisitions ,...
. - Ken MoelisKen MoelisKen Moelis is an investment banker and founder of Moelis & Company, an independent investment banking firm.-Education:Ken Moelis holds a Bachelor in Business Administration and a Masters of Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.-Career:Moelis began his...
— Former UBS Investment BankUBS AGUBS AG is a Swiss global financial services company headquartered in Basel and Zürich, Switzerland, which provides investment banking, asset management, and wealth management services for private, corporate, and institutional clients worldwide, as well as retail clients in Switzerland...
executive and founder of Moelis & Co. - Herald Ritch — Co-Founder of Sagent Advisors.
- Daniel ScottoDaniel ScottoDaniel "Dan" Scotto is an American financial analyst. In August 2001, as an analyst with BNP Paribas, Scotto downgraded Enron securities from "Buy" to "Neutral". He took this action four months before the Enron accounting scandal was revealed that led to the company's bankruptcy. Scotto claims...
— Former Director of Research at Bear StearnsBear StearnsThe Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. based in New York City, was a global investment bank and securities trading and brokerage, until its sale to JPMorgan Chase in 2008 during the global financial crisis and recession...
, DLJ, RothschildL.F. RothschildL.F. Rothschild was a merchant and investment banking firm based in the United States and founded in 1899. The firm collapsed following the 1987 stock market crash.-History:...
, and S&P, Institutional Investor ranked First Team Nine Years in a row and the Top U.S. Bond Analyst while at Bear StearnsBear StearnsThe Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. based in New York City, was a global investment bank and securities trading and brokerage, until its sale to JPMorgan Chase in 2008 during the global financial crisis and recession...
, Financial Analyst, President & CIO of Whitehall Financial Advisors LLC. - Wayne Van Dyck — Founder & CEO of Six Degrees Media, Inc., the creators of Smart Money Websites.
- Scott Aschoff - Chief Operations Officer Janney Montgomery Scott LLC
- Alain O'Hayon - Managing Executive Partner, Dominick & Dominick LLCDominick & Dominick LLCDominick & Dominick LLC , formerly Dominick & Dominick Inc., is one of the oldest, privately held investment firms in the United States. It was one of the original members of the New York Stock Exchange, with an original founder serving as a president. The firm was the syndicate head for General...
- Franck Ceddaha - Managing Partner at Oddo Corporate Finance in Paris
- David Einhorn - Founder and President of Greenlight CapitalGreenlight CapitalGreenlight Capital is a hedge fund which was founded by David Einhorn. Einhorn's commentary on the financial position of Lehman Brothers in early 2008, and Greenlight's short selling of Lehman stock, foreshadowed Lehmans' collapse....
- Alan Richman - Founder and President of InnoVative Capital LLC
- George Ball - Founder and Chairman of Philpott Ball & Werner, Inc.
- Michael J. Campbell - CEO and President Dominick & Dominick LLCDominick & Dominick LLCDominick & Dominick LLC , formerly Dominick & Dominick Inc., is one of the oldest, privately held investment firms in the United States. It was one of the original members of the New York Stock Exchange, with an original founder serving as a president. The firm was the syndicate head for General...
,
See also
- Credit SuisseCredit SuisseThe Credit Suisse Group AG is a Swiss multinational financial services company headquartered in Zurich, with more than 250 branches in Switzerland and operations in more than 50 countries.-History:...
- Credit Suisse First BostonCredit Suisse First BostonCredit Suisse First Boston was the former name of the banking firm Credit Suisse.-History:In 1978, Credit Suisse and First Boston Corporation formed a London-based 50-50 investment banking joint venture called the Financière Crédit Suisse-First Boston...
- DLJ Merchant Banking PartnersDLJ Merchant Banking PartnersDLJ Merchant Banking Partners is a private equity investment firm focused on leveraged buyout transactions. The firm is currently an affiliate of Credit Suisse and traces its roots to Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, the investment bank acquired by Credit Suisse First Boston in 2000...
Further reading
- Jenrette, Richard. Jenrette, the contrarian manager. McGraw-Hill Professional, 1997