|
The Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Frères & Co. |  | Author: William D. Cohan
Publisher: Anchor
List Price: $17.00
Buy Used: $2.91
as of 11/22/2009 19:53 CST details
You Save: $14.09 (83%)
New (33) Used (35) from $2.91
Seller: ernestbooksales
Rating:  29 reviews
Sales Rank: 23614
Media: Paperback
Pages: 752
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.2 x 1.7
ISBN: 0767919793
Dewey Decimal Number: 650
EAN: 9780767919791
ASIN: 0767919793
Publication Date: April 8, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Features:
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
A grand and revelatory portrait of Wall Streetâs most storied investment bank
Wall Street investment banks move trillions of dollars a year, make billions in fees, pay their executives in the tens of millions of dollars. But even among the most powerful firms, Lazard Frères & Co. stood apart. Discretion, secrecy, and subtle strategy were its weapons of choice. For more than a century, the mystique and reputation of the "Great Men" who worked there allowed the firm to garner unimaginable profits, social cachet, and outsized influence in the halls of power. But in the mid-1980s, their titanic egos started getting in the way, and the Great Men of Lazard jeopardized all they had built.
William D. Cohan, himself a former high-level Wall Street banker, takes the reader into the mysterious and secretive world of Lazard and presents a compelling portrait of Wall Street through the tumultuous history of this exalted and fascinating company. Cohan deconstructs the explosive feuds between Felix Rohatyn and Steve Rattner, superstar investment bankers and pillars of New York society, and between the man who controlled Lazard, the inscrutable French billionaire Michel David-Weill, and his chosen successor, Bruce Wasserstein.
Cohan follows Felix, the consummate adviser, as he reshapes corporate America in the 1970s and 1980s, saves New York City from bankruptcy, and positions himself in New York society and in Washington. Felixâs dreams are dashed after the arrival of Steve, a formidable and ambitious former newspaper reporter. By the mid-1990s, as Lazard neared its 150th anniversary, Steve and Felix were feuding openly.
Â
The internal strife caused by their arguments could not be solved by the imperious Michel, whose manipulative tendencies served only to exacerbate the trouble within the firm. Increasingly desperate, Michel took the unprecedented step of relinquishing operational control of Lazard to one of the few Great Men still around, Bruce Wasserstein, then fresh from selling his own M&A boutique, for $1.4 billion. Bruceâs take: more than $600 million. But it turned out Great Man Bruce had snookered Great Man Michel when the Frenchman was at his most vulnerable.Â
The LastTycoons is a tale of vaulting ambitions, whispered advice, worldly mistresses, fabulous art collections, and enormous wealthâa story of high drama in the world of high finance.Â
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 29
 below average critical review November 7, 2009
Tom O. (saint louis, mo)
I didn't read the book but was listening to the audio book. i'd hope the book is better than the audio. I didn't wish to finish with it. I really got nothing worthwile out of it.
The only thing i could gather was the imnmigration of the family during the war years and the marriages and dowrys and business partner brothers and the internal fighting throughout the family. Was kinda a real headache to listen too.
Not reccommended
 Compelling history of Lazard Frères & Co. July 29, 2009
Rolf Dobelli (Switzerland)
If investment banking and the history of big deals fascinate you, getAbstract invites you to sit down with this compelling history of Lazard Frères & Co., from its humble beginnings through its astounding success. The stories of the dominant personalities who used the Lazard mystique to garner unbelievable fees are legendary. As a former journalist and Lazard banker, William D. Cohan has the skill and qualifications to tell this story. While he covers many of Lazard's biggest men and biggest deals, he never bogs down in technical details. The author focuses on the firm's leaders, and shows their personalities, strengths and foibles. These stories cover shocking self-interest and staggering amounts of money. This large book has a cast of hundreds; it is attributed carefully and well-indexed, though it could use a personnel timeline. Cohan keeps you on track by focusing on the men who led Lazard over the 157 years that it was a family firm. Many of the personal revelations are quite sensational and the book is almost always entertaining.
They should have gone to jail March 29, 2009
Bullelephant (Denver, Colorado)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Mr. William Cohan the author is a former investment banker. It shows. He writes well (too long at times) and he does know this field. But...at times he idolizes the men of Lazard as if he were a suplicant looking for a job. Ok...he was an investment banker (aka used car salesman) but a stronger editor could have washed this nonsense out of the book.
Cohan also does not really address important issues: Like how Lazzard got its favored status with the Bank of England. Did he ever hear of bribery? He also skirts issues such as the obvious tax evasion of most of New York's Lazzard partners.
On other issues however he does call clowns like Felix Royatan pretty much what they are and were - rat skunk BS artists. This book should be a mandatory read in all MBA schools. It is primer on how not to conduct business. That the U.S. Government lets rat companies like this exist is in itself a crime. Cohan does give us most of the facts. You will be able to draw your own harsh conclusions.
Remember that Paul O'Neil W's first Secretary of the Treasury has said that most Wall Street jobs could be learned in two weeks...He was too generous...Most bus drivers cary more ehtics and knowledge in their heads than the pond trash that inhabits the halls of Lazzard to this day.
Read this book and weep for America..
Why Was This Book Needed? March 15, 2009
Loyd E. Eskildson (Phoenix, AZ.)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Lazard Freres and Co.'s strategy was to offer clients the wisdom of its collection of the finest and most experienced investment bankers, risking no capital of its own. It began as a dry goods store in New Orleans in 1848, moving to San Francisco the next year after a city-wide fire. There it switched to banking in 1876. In 2005 it held an IPO and became publicly held.
"The Last Tycoons" also contains particular emphases on the biography of Felix Rohatyn, "preeminent among Lazard's great men," and the corporate infighting that occurred while Cohan was a broker there.
Unfortunately, we don't learn what Lazard's people did to earn the firm's enormous fees. So, why do we need 752 pages on this topic?
 all fluff, no meat December 20, 2008
Victor Christianson (New York, New York USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Am about halfway through it and it's more like a popcorn soap opera recounting little petty jealousies. It recounts a few big name deals they firm facilitated with virtually no real deal details. The secret history it ain't.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 29
|
|
|
|
Return to Math.com | |
