missions in 1975. Goldman Sachs suffered a serious blow when Levy died in 1976, putting it under another cloud. The firm, which had been ruled by a single, authoritarian managing partner, now clearly needed leadership in order to survive. The two candidates for the top job, John Whitehead and John Weinberg, could either vie for the job in typical Wall Street fashion until the stronger of the two emerged, or they could reach an accommodation. Fortunately for Goldman, they chose the latter route. While Goldman would ease into this transition successfully, another old-line firm was in the throes of change as well. Resurgence at Lazard Freres The merger trend of the 1960s helped many new and established investment banks to leave an indelible mark upon Wall Street and corporate America. While Goldman Sachs found itself on the side of the takeover targets, another old established bank resurrected its name on Wall Street by adeptly assisting takeovers on the buyers’ side. Prior to that time, the firm’s name was known on the Street, but it was certainly not the fixture that many other Our Crowd firms had become. In fact, it did not belong to any crowd at all but remained something of an outsider despite its long-established origins. Lazard Freres was established in 1848 in New Orleans. Three brothers, Alexandre, Lazare, and Simon Lazard, emigrated from France to New Orleans in 1848 and established a dry goods business with $3,000 each. The following year they were forced to close shop when a devastating fire engulfed the city. They moved the company to San Francisco to set up a similar business and were fortunate enough to arrive just as the gold rush began. They soon began trading in gold rather than dry goods, and within the short span of only four years since their arrival in the United States had opened a Paris operation called Lazard Freres et Cie. As the American Civil War was ending, they became full-fledged bankers who specialized in gold trading. In 1877, the brothers opened a London house called Lazard Brothers, which quickly became an accepting house recognized by the Bank of England, meaning that it was authorized to clear payments and deal in trade bills (commercial paper in the United States). A relative who was hired to be an accountant in the San Francisco operation,