Lazard’s record Q2 came with 50 new faces and heavy pay cuts
Lazard’s record first quarter came after CEO Peter Orszag promised to hire a relatively “crazy” 10 MDs a year. The bank’s second quarter results seem to have given some legitimacy to Orszag’s strategy, but it’s probably not made anyone at the bank particularly happy in the process.
Get Morning Coffee ☕ in your inbox. Sign up here.
Why? Because, despite the super high revenues, pay per head has actually gone down. In the second quarter of 2023, the bank paid its 3,400 employees an average of $168k per head. In the second quarter of 2024, revenues went up by 7%, but the bank’s 3,614 employees were allocated an average of $143k per head. That’s a 15% decrease.
Things aren’t so bad when comparing half-years. Revenues rose more dramatically in the whole of H1, up 22% overall, and compensation per head marginally went up too, from $301k to $317k.
What’s probably more reassuring to Lazard’s people is the headcount increase. The bank cut around 10% of its headcount across a few quarters – from 3,400 at the end of Q2 of 2023 to 3,114 in Q1 of 2024. It’s since gone up by 50, which isn’t much, but it’s honest work.
Two of the 50 new faces at Lazard are Evercore MDs Mike Long and Adam Taetle, whom Bloomberg reported as joining in April. Lazard is now hunting for a private credit fund to bolt onto its asset management team. If it finds one, it will almost certainly outstrip Orszag’s 10 MDs a year hiring target.
Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: +44 7537 182250 (SMS, WhatsApp or voicemail). Telegram: @SarahButcher. Or email editortips@efinancialcareers.com. Signal also available.
Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libelous (in which case it won’t.)
