Lazard Looks Within Its Ranks for New Chief

Lazard looked within its own ranks for a CEO to succeed the late Bruce Wasserstein, who died in October at the age of 61. The new leader is Kenneth Jacobs, until now the head of the North American business for the 161-year-old bank, which has its roots in Europe but is now based in Bermuda. Jacobs, 51, has been with Lazard for 21 years, and has recently worked on several major transactions, according to Bloomberg News. "This year, he worked with Philadelphia’s Haas family, the major shareholder of Rohm & Haas Co., on the company’s $16.5 billion sale to Dow Chemical Co. He also helped GlaxoSmithKline Plc on its $2.9 billion purchase of Stiefel Laboratories Inc.," Bloomberg said.

Lazard also promoted two top dealmakers to the role of director, including vice chairman Gary Parr, 52, a leading adviser to financial institutions. Parr had been a contender for the top job, according to Bloomberg. It's a good bet that Lazard wants to keep him on board. Ashish Bhutani, 49, was named a director, and Steven Heyer, 57, was a promoted from director to lead director, a new position.

As part of the management changes announced today, Antonio Weiss, 43, was named global head of investment banking. Weiss relocated to New York from Europe earlier this year to become the global head of mergers and acquisitions. He is currently advising Kraft Foods Inc. on its $16.4 billion hostile bid for Cadbury Plc.