The Last Tycoons

William D. Cohan, “The Last Tycoons” (The Secret History Of Lazard Freres & Co.), Doubleday, 2007, 714 Pages

Should anyone have a business or two lying around that may be subject to a merger or acquisition, (M&A), this is a book you must read. I found it simply amazing that companies pay millions of dollars for advice and direction that often leads them into the abyss. The author spent six years working at Lazard as a vice president and had good access to most of the Lazard subjects of this book. Yet, the book focuses mostly on the characters personalities and infighting at the firm than on the actual concepts and mechanisms involved in mergers and acquisitions. The most important and detestable character is Bruce Wasserstein who only recently took over Lazard and made it a public company in 2005. Bruce just died in October of 2009; I doubt he is missed by many. I did not find any useful notes to make in spite of reading all 714 pages. Unless you have an unexplainable desire to know all about Lazard, this book is probably best left on the shelf of your local library.