Michel David-Weill

Michel David-Weill  link Amazon (Financier)
File:Michel David-Weill.png
Born	November 23, 1932 Paris, France
Died	June 16, 2022
Nationality	French
Ethnicity	Jewish
Alma mater	Lycée Français de New York, Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris
Parents	Berthe Haardt David-Weill, Pierre David-Weill
Children	Béatrice Stern, Cécile Renom de La Baume, Nathalie Merveilleux du Vignaux
Spouse	Hélène Marie Lehideux
Interests	Felix Rohatyn
Relatives	Alexandre Weill
Jewish French-American financier and heir to the Lazard banking dynasty who attended the 1972 and 2002 Bilderbergs.

Michel David-Weill was the Paris-born heir to the Lazard banking dynasty who ran the investment bank during as a closely held Jewish family business. He attended the 1972 and 2002 Bilderbergs. He was also a member of the 1001 Club and the Trilateral Commission.

Background

Michel David-Weill was born into a Jewish 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, Alexandre Weill, worked at Lazard Frères, a firm co-founded by his cousins, Alexandre, Elie, and Simon Lazard. In 1900, his grandfather, David David-Weill, 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 during World War II, David-Weill remained behind with his mother in occupied France. During the last year of the occupation, at age 11, he lived with his mother and younger sister in the French village of Béduer in southwestern France, where they were baptized and raised as Roman Catholics (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 with other war refugees such as Baron Pierre de Gunzburg.

After World War II was over, he stayed in the United States to live in New York City with his family. David-Weill was also educated at the Sciences Po Paris. David-Weill was conscripted in the French military.

Career

In 1956, David-Weill joined Lazard Freres, and, in 1961, became a partner. Under the stewardship of chairman 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 advising to areas such as asset management and municipal bond. He also made numerous hires, including Steven Rattner as well as Kenneth M. Jacobs as 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 1990s, after the departures of Felix Rohatyn to become the U.S. Ambassador to France, Kendrick Wilson III for Goldman Sachs, Gerald Rosenfeld for Rothschild & Co. and other prominent dealmakers of the firm such as J. Ira Harris and Steven Rattner. 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 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.

Family

Michel David-Weill married Hélène Lehideux, president of Arts décoratifs, daughter of Robert Lehideux, director of the Lehideux bank, and Odette Vyau de Lagarde. From this union four daughters were born :

• His daughter Beatrice Stern was married to Edouard Stern, who was reportedly killed during sado-masochistic bondage session.
• Cécile, novelist, wife of Emmanuel Renom de La Baume;
• Nathalie, wife of Olivier Merveilleux du Vignaux;
• Agathe, wife of Pierre Mordacq.

References

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