But it’s Rattner, not the ambassador-to-be, who may now require the greater diplomatic skills to succeed. A rich, storied global investment bank, the 149-year-old Lazard has been a traumatized firm in recent years. And the rise to near Lazard’s top by Rattner - a polished, if controversial, success story - offers a fresh glimpse of some of its longstanding woes. The loss of Rohatyn, whose luster helped to make Lazard a sought-after corporate adviser, is only part of the problem. Lazard has always been a disjointed clutch of fiercely competitive, independent investment-banking stars. There’s never been much of a management structure. And then there’s the omnipotent rule of David-Weill, a wily, cosmopolitan 64-year- old Frenchman who controls the Paris, London and New York firms that make up Lazard.
So is Rattner his heir apparent? And, if so, can he mold a new culture of cooperation, loosen David-Weill’s iron grip and continue to generate floods of revenues? For now, David-Weill is vague about Rattner as successor. ““Mr. Rattner is in an important position toward being part of the succession planning,’’ he says.
Rattner declined requests for interviews. But in a statement, he said, ““These changes are about the firm and not about me. We are moving forward as a team.’’ And Rohatyn says the time has come for Lazard to try a little teamwork. ““This isn’t an industry that’s appropriate for the superstar approach anymore,’’ he says. ““And the firm is a lot more diversified, a lot bigger, than when we ran a superstar business.''
Smart and energetic, Rattner, 44, seems the logical choice for the newly created post of deputy CEO, most Wall Streeters agree. At the same time, David-Weill acknowledged other important players by naming four vice chairmen and creating a management committee. ““This is a collegial approach, so certainly there have been no winners and losers,’’ he declares. But Rattner is first among equals, having won David-Weill’s favor with attributes unmatched at the firm: a presence reminiscent of Rohatyn’s, an independent power base of board memberships (Brown University and the Metropolitan Museum of Art) and clout with corporate chieftains and directors. Most important, Rattner, a media-dealmaking specialist, has a talent for generating revenue. His group has done $70 billion worth of communications deals during his eight-year tenure. One fan and ardent client, Amos Hostetter of Continental Cable, once offered fees so generous that ““Steve insisted that I reduce what I was proposing,’’ the exec recalls. Rattner is at least as skilled as a major Democratic fund raiser, a talent he had hoped to parlay into a post in the Clinton administration. That ambition has clearly been put on ice for the time being, says David-Weill.
Despite all of Rattner’s strengths, David-Weill considered bolstering the firm with an outsider. NEWSWEEK has learned that Lazard unsuccessfully approached veteran banker Robert Greenhill, who was once Rattner’s boss at Morgan Stanley. And David-Weill has ac- knowledged first wooing Bruce Wasserstein, who gained fame or infamy during the 1980s takeover era, as his heir apparent. David-Weill now suggests the move was designed to galvanize internal support for Rattner. ““As always, the difficulty is to get enough wind behind the sails,’’ he says, adding that the Wasserstein gambit ““helped provide the wind.’’ If that’s really what David-Weill was up to, it proves one thing: byzantine maneuvering hasn’t gone out of style yet at Lazard.
