The last tycoons: the secret history of Lazard Frères & Co (130 page)

It turned out that my literary agent, Joy Harris, is both the dearest friend and my closest professional advocate. Like Bill Thomas, she saw early on what this book might be and worked tirelessly to make it so. My unending thanks and considerable love go out to her.

Finally, and most emphatically, neither this tome nor my life would have much meaning without the unalloyed, unyielding, and unequivocal love and support of my wife and muse, Deb Futter. In so many ways, over so many years, she has been there for me. She has also been the most dedicated and amazing mother to the other two loves of my life, my nearly perfect sons, Teddy and Quentin, whose only discernible flaw is that they are inveterate Yankees fans.

Needless to say, any errors in fact, of omission, or of commission are my responsibility alone.

NOTES

Abbreviations

Chapter 1. "Great Men"

"It is a great honor": FGR testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, July 31, 1997.

Felix tries to parse: FGR interview, December 17, 2004.

In his memoir: Robert E. Rubin and Jacob Weisberg,
In an Uncertain World
(New York: Random House, 2003).

"I thought": Ibid., p. 88.

"a group of important": Ralph Nader and William Taylor,
The Big Boys: Power and Position in American Business
(New York: Pantheon, 1986); and Andy Serwer, "Can Lazard Still Cut It?"
Fortune,
July 20, 1998.

"the interstitial man": Ibid., p. 196.

"Felix is enveloping": Ibid., p. 198.

"Oh, because we are": Ibid.

"the Teflon investment banker": Ibid., p. 216.

"But he accomplished":
NYT,
April 21,1981.

"Monnet played": Nader and Taylor,
Big Boys,
p. 198.

"Sure, absolutely": Ibid., p. 199.

"I think power": Nader and Taylor,
Big Boys,
p. 202.

utterly typical week: SEC, FGR's January 1969 calendar.

"the grand rabbi": Jeremy Bernstein, "Allocating Sacrifice," originally published in the January 24, 1983, issue of
The New Yorker
.

"who came from": Ibid.

"would take to a desert island": FGR interview, WNYC, January 5, 2003.

"rapidly lost": Bernstein, "Allocating Sacrifice."

"I mean, the Austrians": FGR interview, November 29, 2004.

"A very traumatic": Bernstein, "Allocating Sacrifice."

"I remember": Ibid.

The story of Felix's escape: Ibid. and FGR interview, November 29, 2004.

"the classic route":
WSJ,
October 10,1975.

"We started driving": FGR interview, November 29, 2004.

"something I will never": FGR interview, November 29, 2004.

"And we thought, clearly": FGR interview, November 29, 2004.

"I have felt": Bernstein, "Allocating Sacrifice."

"It was a miracle":
NYT,
April 11,2005.

"As the Germans": FGR interview, November 29, 2004.

"There were always": FGR interview, November 29, 2004.

"Securing these visas":
NYT,
April 11,2005.

"looked very elegant": FGR interview, November 29, 2004.

"As a last step": FGR interview, November 29, 2004.

"There were not that many": FGR interview, November 29, 2004.

"I think that was": FGR interview, November 29, 2004.

"We went to": Bernstein, "Allocating Sacrifice."

"They thought this": FGR interview, November 29, 2004.

"I became enamored": FGR interview, WNYC, January 5, 2003, and July 6,2003.

"My most basic feelings": Peter Hellman, "The Wizard of Lazard,"
NYT Magazine,
March 21, 1976.

"That experience has left me": Bernstein: Allocating Sacrifice."

"because they had": FGR interview, November 29, 2004.

"to try to talk us out": FGR interview, November 29, 2004.

"And this guy": FGR interview, November 29, 2004.

"I just stank": FGR interview, November 29, 2004.

"It was about": Patrick Gerschel interview, June 21, 2005.

Chapter 2. "Tomorrow, the Lazard House Will Go Down"

"Entire business totally": Western Union Telegraph Company cable, April 20, 1906.

"It is hardly": Western Union Telegraph Company cable, April 25, 1906.

Together, on July 12, 1848: Partnership agreement.

"business was so brisk":
Lazard Freres & Co.: The First 150 Years
(New York: Lazard Freres & Co., 1998), p. 13.

"Gradually, the business": Ibid.

"The intellectual horizon":
Lazard Freres & Co.,
p. 15.

"already learning":
NYT,
February 25,1898.

"to see what kind of man": FAP.

"There is a very real": FAP, Frank Altschul, Letter to George Blumenthal, October 21, 1918.

"This would involve": FAP, "Exchange Situation," January 24, 1924.

"As we do not desire": Ibid.

"Using a $100 million": Darryl McLeod, "Capital Flight," in David R. Henderson, ed.,
The Fortune Encyclopedia of Economics
(New York: Warner Books, 1993).

"Things are looking better": FAP, Christian Lazard to Frank Altschul, February 26, 1924.

"My heartiest congratulations": FAP, Frank Altschul to Christian Lazard, March 13, 1924.

"You can imagine": FAP, Christian Lazard to Frank Altschul, March 19, 1924.

"All the time": Ibid.

"a secret":
Ibid.

"sister firms...We have placed": FAP, Christian Lazard to Frank Altschul, March 27, 1924.

"at the disposal of the Trust": FAP, Christian Lazard to Frank Altschul, February 26, 1924.

"13 white, no black": NYSE, December 20, 1923.

"Picasso of banking": Cary Reich,
Financier: The Biography of Andre Meyer
(New York: Morrow, 1983), p. 18.

"weak heart": Ibid., p. 24.

"It called for a quick mind": Ibid., p. 25.

"So it is with a clear head":
NYT Magazine,
September 21, 1924.

"He just took everybody": Patrick Gerschel interview, January 20, 2005.

"acquire, hold, sell": General American Investors Company Web site and FAP.

"It seems to me": FAP, Albert Forsch to Frank Altschul, August 28, 1929.

"An immediate consequence": R. S. Sayers,
The Bank of England, 1891-1944
(Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1976), vol. 2, p. 389.

"There'll be a terrible time": Interview with a Lazard partner.

"the irregularities to which": BOE minutes, July 17, 1931, released publicly for the first time in 2005 after my inquiry;
Times
(London), July 31, 2005.

"another member of the staff": BOE minutes, July 17, 1931.

"Tomorrow, the Lazard House": Interview with a Lazard partner.

"put matters straight": Sayers,
Bank of England,
p. 530.

"an Accepting House": BOE minutes, July 17, 1931.

"would probably give rise to a state of panic": Ibid.

"the matter should be kept secret": Ibid.

"might unduly weaken": BOE minutes, July 18, 1931.

"to find": Ibid.

"Mr. Pearson feared": Ibid.

"For a long time": MDW interview, April 12, 2005.

"then gave to the other": Bank of England documents, Committee of Treasury, April 27, 1932.

"The most remarkable part": Hugo Kindersley interview, May 4, 2005.

"fair valuation for probate": Deloittes's evaluation of Lazard Brothers for estate of Lord Cowdray II, October 5,1933.

"And the people of New York": MDW interview, April 12, 2005.

cryptic cablegram: FAP, from London to Frank Altschul, August 10, 1931.

"In the development":
NYT,
September 25, 1934, p. 38.

"While investment bankers":
Newsweek,
October 6, 1934.

"As you remember": FAP, Pierre David-Weill to Frank Altschul, July 20, 1936.

"some of the questions": FAP, Frank Altschul to Pierre David-Weill, July 29,1936.

"The method was employed": FAP, Albert Forsch to Frank Altschul, August 1936.

two-volume catalog: Gabriel Henriot,
Collection David-Weill
(Paris, 1926-27).

"In remembrance of our": Ibid., in Avery Library, Columbia University School of Architecture.

"David Weill was": Guy Wildenstein interview, October 28, 2005.

"a large part" and "one of the most important":
NYT,
February 20, 1937, p. 19.

"He had liberated his walls": Daniel Wildenstein,
Marchands d'art
(Paris: Plon, 1999), p. 30.

The truth: MDW interview, April 12,2005.

"a logical development":
NYT,
December 22, 1937, p. 39.

"weighted with four telephones":
Newsweek,
October 6, 1934.

"We all agreed": FAP, Pierre David-Weill to Frank Altschul, November 10,1938.

"The object of my trip": Ibid.

Chapter 3. Original Sin

The ostensible reason for the change: MDW interview, April 12, 2005.

"He wanted the power": MDW interview, April 12, 2005.

"I suppose by now": FAP, Frank Altschul to Andre Meyer, August 16,1939.

"I dislike hearing": Ibid.

"I am wondering": FAP, Frank Altschul to Andre Meyer, December 20, 1939.

"friendly cable": FAP, David David-Weill to Frank Altschul, September 13,1939.

"I therefore turn": Ibid.

"Supplementing my letter": FAP, David David-Weill to Frank Altschul, September 25, 1939.

"all the matters of common": FAP, Frank Altschul to Andre Meyer, September 27, 1939.

"I cannot tell you": FAP, Frank Altschul to David David-Weill, May 13,1940.

Meyer sent his wife: Cary Reich,
Financier: The Biography of Andre Meyer
(New York: Morrow, 1983), p. 33.

"Meyer had no illusions": Ibid., p. 33.

"havoc": Philippe Meyer interview, as well as account of family's escape from Paris, February 1, 2005.

"Mr. Harrington": FAP, Frank Altschul to Andre Meyer, June 27, 1940.

"It is good to know": FAP, Frank Altschul to Andre Meyer, July 2, 1940.

"There are people": FGR interview.

At the outbreak of the war: MDW interview, April 12, 2005.

"We are very patriotic": Suzanna Andrews, "The Scion in Winter,"
Vanity Fair,
March 1997, p. 275.

"When you have the run": Guy Wildenstein interview, October 28, 2005.

"I unfortunately": FAP, David David-Weill to Frank Altschul, August 14, 1940.

October 1940:
NYT,
October 30, 1940, p. 7.

"Aryan" control:
NYT,
February 23, 1941, p. 16.

They fled Lyon: MDW interview, November 30, 2005.

"When you are so busy": FAP, Frank Altschul to Wallace Phillips, October 6,1941.

"Gordian knot" and "It is not only": FAP, Frank Altschul to Henry Styles Bridges, October 21, 1941.

"may not like his friends": FAP, Frank Altschul to Adolph A. Berle, Sr., October 21, 1941.

"Pierre Weil": FAP, Fletcher Warren to Frank Altschul, October 25, 1941.

"after careful consideration": FAP, A.M. Warren to Frank Altschul, November 1, 1941.

"Awaiting news from you": FAP, Pierre David-Weill to Frank Altschul, April 6, 1942.

"urgent business trips": FAP, Pierre David-Weill to Frank Altschul, April 9,1942.

"Distressed at all these delays": FAP, Frank Altschul to Pierre David-Weill (date unknown).

"should merely try to": FAP, Frank Altschul to Herbert Lehman, July 23,1942.

"has not resulted": FAP, H. K. Trevers to Pierre David-Weill, August 22, 1942.

Altschul shot off a letter: FAP, Frank Altschul to F. P. Keppel, October 14,1942.

"in a huff": MDW interview, November 30, 2005.

"I was not completely foolish": MDW interview, November 30, 2005.

"It was wonderful": MDW interview, September 15, 2004.

"My father told me": MDW interview, November 30, 2005.

"It was perfectly ordinary": MDW interview, November 30, 2005.

"It was all a great shock": Reich,
Financier,
p. 36.

Simone Rosen: Simone Rosen interview, April 27, 2005.

"Getting the RCA account": Patrick Gerschel interview, June 21, 2005.

"Dear Friends": FAP, Andre Meyer to Frank Altschul, et al., December 9, 1941.

"On a practiced level": FAP, Andre Meyer to Frank Altschul, January 9,1942.

"I hope that this time": Ibid.

wrote to the State Department: FAP, Frank Altschul to F. P. Keppel, January 29, 1943.

"have been treated": FAP, Robert Kindersley to Frank Altschul, February 13, 1942.

"very appropriate reproof": FAP, Frank Altschul to Robert Kindersley, March 26,1942.