Board & Leadership

Board of directors

Peter R. Orszag CEO and Chairman

Peter R. Orszag is CEO and Chairman of Lazard and has led the firm and served as a Board director since October 2023. He previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Financial Advisory from June 2019 until September 2023, and earlier as Lazard's Head of North American Mergers & Acquisitions and Global Co-Head of Healthcare after joining Lazard in May 2016 as a Vice Chairman of Investment Banking from Citigroup. He served as Director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Obama Administration from January 2009 to July 2010 and as Director of the Congressional Budget Office from January 2007 to December 2008. He holds a Ph.D. in economics and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Peterson Institute for International Economics and the Mt. Sinai Medical Center.

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Since 2023
Michelle Jarrard Director

Michelle Jarrard is a former Senior Partner of McKinsey & Company, where she held multiple senior leadership roles during her 25-year career, including as Global Chief HR and Talent Officer from 2007 until her retirement in January 2016, and was a member of McKinsey's Global Operating Committee. She serves as CEO and a director of BioCircuit Technologies, an early-stage medical device company, and is a director of Inspire Brands and a former director of Crawford & Company, where she served as Board Chair and Compensation Committee Chair. From January 2016 to August 2018 she was a Managing Director of the GRA Venture Fund, LLC. She earned her MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

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Since 2017
Iris Knobloch Director

Iris Knobloch is Chair and President of the Cannes Film Festival. She is also Chairman of the Board of Directors of Deezer, Vice Chairman and Lead Independent Director of the board of AccorHotels, a member of the board of Vail Resorts, Inc., and a governor of the American Hospital in Paris. She was a senior executive with WarnerMedia and its predecessor companies from 1996 to 2021, most recently as President of WarnerMedia in France, Germany, the Benelux, Austria and Switzerland, and previously served on the boards of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton and Central European Media Enterprises. She received a J.D. from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet and an L.L.M. from New York University.

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Since 2018

Ann-Kristin Achleitner has spent over thirty years as an economist and educator and is a Distinguished Affiliated Professor at the Technical University of Munich, where she held the Chair of Entrepreneurial Finance between 2001 and 2020, as well as at the European School of Management and Technology in Berlin. She currently sits on the Linde board of directors, is a member of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Post (DHL Group), and is Vice-Chair of the Investment and Innovation Advisory Board of the German Federal Ministry of Finance. She previously served on the Supervisory Board of MunichRE from 2013 until 2024, the board of Deutsche Boerse from 2016 to 2019, and the board of Engie from 2012 to 2019. She received doctorates in business administration and law from the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland.

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Since 2021
Andrew M. Alper Director

Andrew M. Alper serves as Chairman of Alper Investments, Inc., and from October 2006 to January 2013 served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of EQA Partners, LP, a global macro strategy partnership. From February 2002 to June 2006 he was President of the New York City Economic Development Corporation and Chairman of the New York City Industrial Development Agency, appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He previously spent 21 years in the Investment Banking Division of Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he was Chief Operating Officer of the division from 1997 to 2000 and co-head of the Financial Institutions Group from 1994 to 1997. He is a member of the board of trustees of the University of Chicago, which he chaired from 2009 to 2015, and serves as a trustee of the University of Chicago Medical Center and the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York.

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Since 2012

Stephen R. Howe Jr. served as U.S. Chairman of Ernst & Young from 2012 to 2018 and as U.S. Managing Partner and Americas Area Managing Partner from 2006 to 2018, and was a member of EY's Global Executive Board from 2006 until his retirement in 2018, directing strategy and operations for a business of over 75,000 people. Since 2019 he has been a member of the Board of Directors of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, where he chairs the Audit Committee and serves on the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. He is also a member of the Board of the Peterson Institute for International Economics and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Liberty Science Center, and was previously a director of Colgate University, Carnegie Hall, the Center for Audit Quality, and the Financial Accounting Foundation.

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Since 2024
Peter Harrison Director

Peter Harrison served as Chief Executive Officer of Schroders plc from April 2016 to November 2024, having been appointed to the Schroders Board in May 2014, and previously served as the firm's Global Head of Investment. Before rejoining Schroders he was Chairman and CEO of RWC Partners, and from 2004 to 2006 he was Global Chief Investment Officer of Deutsche Bank's asset management businesses, with earlier portfolio management roles at Newton Investment Management and Flemings/JP Morgan. He is a member of the UK Treasury's Asset Management Taskforce, the board of the UK Investment Association (which he previously chaired), and the UK Capital Markets Industry Taskforce, and was appointed to the Board of Directors of Marsh Inc. in February 2026. He also serves on the Board of FCLT Global and the advisory boards of venture capital firm Antler and the Harvard University Impact Board.

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Since 2025
Dan Schulman Lead Independent Director

Dan Schulman serves as Chief Executive Officer of Verizon Communications, Inc., having joined Verizon's Board of Directors in 2018 and served as Verizon's Lead Independent Director from December 2024 to October 2025. He served as President and Chief Executive Officer of PayPal Holdings, Inc. from July 2015 to September 2023 and was on PayPal's Board from July 2015 to December 2023, and prior to PayPal was Group President of the Enterprise Group of American Express Company from August 2010 to August 2014. He currently serves on the boards of Cisco Systems, Inc., where he chairs the Compensation and Management Development Committee, Verizon Communications Inc., and JUST Capital, where he is Chairman of the Board. He is a Lazard director and serves as the company's Lead Independent Director.

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Since 2024

Dmitry Shevelenko is the Chief Business Officer of Perplexity AI, Inc., where he is responsible for all operations of the company and leads its business growth, including strategic consumer and enterprise partnerships. He previously founded and served as President of Tortoise Inc., a retail and commerce automation startup based in Mountain View, California, and from 2014 to 2018 held senior roles in business development at Uber, following earlier product leadership roles at LinkedIn and Meta. He serves as a director of Payfare Inc., a publicly listed financial technology company, and served on a special committee of its board overseeing its acquisition by Fiserv. He holds a B.A. in Anthropology from Columbia University.

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Since 2025

Executive leadership

Christopher Hogbin CEO of Asset Management

Christopher Hogbin became Chief Executive Officer of Lazard Asset Management in December 2025, succeeding Evan Russo. He brings decades of global business and investment experience and demonstrated success in expanding investment capabilities across public and private markets globally. He is one of Lazard's named executive officers for 2025.

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Since 2025
Alexandra Soto Chief Operating Officer

Alexandra Soto serves as Chief Operating Officer of Lazard and is a named executive officer of the firm. In her role she has provided strategic insight to senior leadership and the Board on matters including technology and performance management practices at peer firms, helping to inform Lazard's approach to its operating model, talent, and support functions, and advised the CEO on the leadership transition within the asset management business.

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Christian A. Weideman General Counsel

Christian A. Weideman serves as General Counsel of Lazard, Inc. and is a named executive officer of the firm. He operates as a strategic advisor to the CEO, senior management, and the Board, including advising on important leadership transitions, and manages the global legal and compliance team to mitigate legal, regulatory, and reputational risks.

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Tracy Farr Chief Financial Officer

Tracy Farr was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Lazard by the Board in February 2026, succeeding Mary Ann Betsch. He is a long-time Lazard Managing Director with two decades of finance experience.

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Since 2026
Mary Ann Betsch Former Chief Financial Officer

Mary Ann Betsch served as Chief Financial Officer of Lazard and is a named executive officer for 2025, having held the role for more than three years. In February 2026 she transitioned from her role as Chief Financial Officer to a senior advisor position. She had been a key leader in strengthening Lazard's financial foundation since joining the firm in 2022, including advancing its reporting and planning capabilities and elevating and integrating the global finance function.

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Evan L. Russo Former CEO of Asset Management

Evan L. Russo served as Chief Executive Officer of Lazard's asset management business and is a named executive officer for 2025, having held the role for more than three years. In December 2025 he transitioned from that role to a senior advisor position after almost 20 years of service to Lazard. He was succeeded by Christopher Hogbin as CEO of Lazard Asset Management.

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