- Peter Orszag has been named CEO of investment bank Lazard, effective October 1.
- Orszag is best known as Barack Obama’s director of Office of Management and Budget.
- He also has a past as a prolific writer and Beltway sex symbol.
Investment bank Lazard announced on Friday that Peter Orszag, CEO of its financial advisory business, would replace Kenneth Jacobs as CEO.
Jacobs will serve as Executive Chairman of the board of directors and continue to advise clients on strategic financial matters. The changes will take effect on October 1.
The switch follows last month’s news that the bank would lay off 10% of its workforce amid a slowing market for M&A and IPOs. Writer William Cohen, who once worked at the bank, described it as “the first instance of mass layoffs” in the bank’s nearly 175-year history.
Lazard’s stock, which is down from where it was when Jacobs took over in 2009, recently traded up 0.75% to $28.63 a share.
That is to say that Orszag has his work cut out for him. But he is also no ordinary Wall Street CEO. Indeed, he is best known as Barack Obama’s Director of the Office of Management and Budget and a key architect of the Affordable Care Act. He only made the switch to Wall Street from Washington in 2011.
Here are 5 fascinating facts about Lazard’s new CEO.
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