David-Weill family

"It must be said that when it comes to ambition, Bolloré is abundantly endowed. By 1999, he had already successively swallowed up Scac, taken a bite out of Delmas-Vieljeux, plundered the Rivaud group, and taken a big chunk of the assets from the Seydoux and David-Weill families... Not to mention his raid against Martin Bouygues, a member of Entreprise et Cité, foreshadowing the ability of the big predators to devour each other."

"Founded in 1848 by two New Orleans cotton merchants originally from Alsace, Lazard Frères was one of several American investment firms with deep southern roots. As the commercial shipping trade moved to San Francisco, Lazard followed. Then at the turn of the century, additional offices were opened in New York, and next in Paris and London. It was the David-Weill family, descendants of the Lazards, who controlled the firm and, wisely, brought Meyer into its Paris branch in 1927. He quickly earned respect in European financial circles for his role in helping to guide Citroën, the French automobile giant, through the depression of the 1930s."

"We were committed to running the firm as Mr. Meyer had shaped it—private, high-quality deals; low overhead; the David-Weill family and the heirs of André Meyer still maintaining their controlling interest. But to provide greater stability and balance, we decided the firm needed an asset management business to serve the needs of institutional investors. (This franchise within the firm now manages $1356 billion.) To help us continue to be aggressive, to regain our market share, and to attract able young people, we decided to hire more investment bankers. And we also realized we needed to weed out a number of people who had for some time not been productive. To accomplish all this, we moved rapidly, and rather ruthlessly."