On Thursday, a source said Lazard Ltd. (LAZ.N) CEO Ken Jacobs would step down and be replaced by Peter Orszag, who heads the investment bank’s financial advising section.
Jacobs resigned after Lazard announced a first-quarter deficit due to slow dealmaking. Lazard aims to cut 10% of its personnel and expects a rocky rest of the year.
Lazard’s market valuation is slightly over $3 billion after losing 17% this year.
During the past decade, it has lost market share to emerging boutique advising firms like Centerview Partners, Evercore, and PJT Partners Inc (PJT.N) and fallen in league table rankings.
Lazard senior director Richard Parsons said the bank had had a succession strategy for some time but did not disclose details.
Lazard’s North America M&A chief, Orszag, 54, joined the bank from Citigroup in 2016. Orszag was a senior Obama administration official before entering investment banking.
After Bruce Wasserstein died in 2009, Jacobs, 64, became Lazard’s CEO.
According to Dealogic, market volatility, strict regulations, and rising interest rates have halted many deals this year, reducing global mergers and acquisitions activity to its lowest level in over a decade.
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley (MS.N) have recently reduced bonuses and laid off personnel in their investment banking units.
Comment Template