Recently Read: The Last Tycoons
The title of this post is a bit of a misnomer - I never actually finished The Last Tycoons by William Cohen. The author's 750 page account of the history of investment bank Lazard Freres is a reasonably good read - but no human should be forced to read 750 pages about an investment bank. As a friend who works at Lazard put it to me: "Why would anyone want to read a 700 page book on Lazard?" Putting that basic question aside, it is an interesting read - if you've got the time to work through 750 pages. For more comments, see below.
I really enjoyed the early parts of the book, which focus on the early founding families of the bank, their struggles to keep it afloat, escape from Paris during Hitler's reign, and other interesting historical elements. However, the last 75% of the book focuses primarily on Felix Rohatyn and the internal politics of the firm (battles with Wasserstein, etc.). Interesting stories and an incredible level of detail (the author uses actual emails to walk through some accounts), but there's a bit too much rumor and gossip for my taste.
If you want to read a more interesting (shorter) book with tales of Wall Street, read Goldman Sachs, The Accidental Investment Banker, or some of the classics like Liars Poker or Den of Thieves.
