Lazard Business Summary

Lazard, Inc. (LAZ) operates as a preeminent global financial advisory and asset management firm, utilizing a dual-engine business model that balances transaction-based fees with recurring management fees. The Financial Advisory segment, which achieved record adjusted net revenue of $1.8 billion in 2025, provides strategic counsel on mergers and acquisitions (M&A), capital markets, restructuring, and geopolitical risks. The Asset Management segment manages approximately $267 billion in assets under management (AUM) as of early 2026, offering equity, fixed income, and alternative investment solutions to a diverse institutional and private client base. Lazard distinguishes itself through "contextual alpha," integrating macroeconomic and geopolitical insights into its core advisory and investment processes. It competes directly with independent boutiques like Evercore, Houlihan Lokey, and Moelis & Company, as well as bulge-bracket firms such as Goldman Sachs and UBS, maintaining a unique market position as the only independent advisor with deep, localized operations across both North America and Europe. Founded in 1848 by the Lazard brothers, the firm is currently led by CEO and Chairman Peter R. Orszag, a former Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The executive team was recently bolstered by the appointment of Tracy Farr as Chief Financial Officer in February 2026, a 20-year finance veteran and former EY professional who previously led Lazard’s Capital Structure Advisory group. Christopher Hogbin, formerly the Global Head of Investments at AllianceBernstein, serves as the CEO of Lazard Asset Management, bringing nearly three decades of investment expertise to the firm's 2030 growth strategy. The board is anchored by Lead Independent Director Dan Schulman, the former CEO of PayPal, and includes notable figures such as Peter Harrison and Iris Knobloch, reflecting a leadership pedigree that blends high-level public policy experience with global corporate finance and digital transformation expertise.