Michel David-Weill
Encyclopedia
Michel David-WeillMichel David-Weill (born November 23, 1932 in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

) is a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 investment banker and former Chairman of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 based Lazard Frères.

He is the son of Berthe Haardt and Lazard Frères chairman Pierre David-Weill
Pierre David-Weill
Pierre David-Weill was a French investment banker.Born Pierre Sylvain Désiré Gérard David-Weill in Paris, France, he was the son of Flora Raphael and David David-Weill , Chairman of Lazard Frères...

 (1900–1975). During the last year of Nazi occupation, at age 11, he had to hide with his mother and younger sister, in a French village called Béduer
Béduer
Béduer is a commune in the Lot département in south-western France.-Pilgrimage:Béduer is situated on the Via Podiensis route that is followed by those making the pilgimage to Santiago de Compostella and so receives pilgrims arriving from the town of Figeac.From Béduer pilgrims continue on either to...

 (Lot, south-western France). After the war was over, he went to live in New York City with his family. He was educated at the Lycée Français de New York
Lycée Français de New York
The Lycée Français de New York , literally The French High School of New York, is an exclusive French-medium school for K-12 students based in Manhattan, New York which follows the French curriculum of study and allows students to study for the French general Baccalauréat, the international option...

 and l'Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris
Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris
The Institut d'études politiques de Paris , simply referred to as Sciences Po , is a public research and higher education institution in Paris, France, specialised in the social sciences. It has the status of grand établissement, which allows its admissions process to be highly selective...

. In 1956, he married Hélène Marie Lehideux, with whom he has four children.

By inheriting equity stake, he became the largest stake holder in both Lazard New York and Lazard Paris, while also holding stakes in Lazard London. Following the 1977 retirement of André Meyer
André Meyer
André Benoit Mathieu Meyer was a French-born American Wall Street investment banker.Meyer was born in Paris to a low-income family. As a boy, he began following the workings of the stock market and out of necessity left school at age sixteen to work as a messenger at the Paris Bourse...

, Michel David-Weill became chairman of Lazard
Lazard
Lazard Ltd is the parent company of Lazard Group LLC, a global, independent investment bank with approximately 2,300 employees in 42 cities across 27 countries throughout Europe, North America, Asia, Australia, Central and South America...

 - working closely with managing director, Felix Rohatyn
Felix Rohatyn
Felix George Rohatyn is an American investment banker known for his role in preventing the bankruptcy of New York City in the 1970s, who also served as United States Ambassador to France. He was a long term advisor to the U.S...

, who, like David-Weill, was also made senior partner at Lazard in 1961. Also, by the power provided in clause 4.1 of Lazard partnership agreement, he alone had the power to set compensations and had the right to fire any partners at his discretion.

Under David-Weill's direction, Lazard began to expand its business from traditional M&A advising to areas such as asset management and municipal bond. He also made numerous hires, including Steven Rattner
Steven Rattner
Steven Lawrence Rattner is an American financier who served as the lead auto advisor in the United States Treasury Department under President Barack Obama...

. Lazard's profits also jumped from $5 million in the late 70s to $500 million in the late 90s.

David-Weill also re-united the branches of Lazard by combining his stakes in New York and Paris and buyout Pearson for its stake in Lazard London for more than $600 million.

After the retirement of Rohatyn, the firm's most prominent deal maker, however, Lazard under David-Weill's leadership began to take a turn for the worse. Other deal makers such as Ira Harris and Rattner also left the firm.

In order to resurrect his fortune, David-Weill made the fateful choice of hiring Bruce Wasserstein
Bruce Wasserstein
Bruce Jay Wasserstein was an American investment banker and businessman. He was a graduate of the McBurney School, University of Michigan, Harvard Business School, and Harvard Law School, and spent a year at Cambridge University...

 as CEO. Wasserstein, however, later decided to put Lazard up for IPO, against the wish of the family patriarch. For that reason, David-Weill has stated that he regretted ever having hired Wasserstein.

He was honored by the government of France, made a Commander of the Legion of Honor and Commander of Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres is an Order of France, established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture, and confirmed as part of the Ordre national du Mérite by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963...

, that nation's highest cultural honor.

David-Weill is currently a director of Groupe Danone
Groupe Danone
Groupe Danone is a French food-products multinational corporation based in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. It claims world leadership in fresh dairy products, marketed under the corporate name, and also in bottled water...

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