LAZ

Lazard, Inc.

A multinational financial services firm, Lazard advises corporations, governments, and institutions on mergers, restructurings, and raising capital, while its asset-management arm runs investment portfolios for clients around the world. It began far from finance in 1848, when three French brothers — Alexandre, Lazare, and Simon — opened a dry goods store in New Orleans, then followed the California Gold Rush to San Francisco, where they traded in gold dust and exchanged currency for miners before growing into a bank. Its name simply means "Lazard Brothers," and for much of its history the firm operated as three loosely linked houses in New York, Paris, and London.