Businessman Michel David-Weill, former CEO of the Lazard bank and founder of the investment company Eurazeo, died Thursday at the age of 89, his family announced Friday to AFP.
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Michel David-Weill died on June 16, 2022 in New York, surrounded by his wife and daughters
," the family said in a statement.
"
Hélène David-Weill and her daughters share their deep sadness and honor the memory of the husband, the father and the exceptional man of generosity and passion, always in search of happiness through his curiosity about the economic world and that of Arts.
He will have profoundly marked his time
, ”she continues.
Michel David-Weill announced in March that he was handing over the chairmanship of the Eurazeo supervisory board to Jean-Charles Decaux, managing director of the urban advertising group JC Decaux, more than 20 years after the creation of the investment company. .
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He founded Eurazeo in April 2001 when he was CEO of the Lazard bank, by merging Eurafrance and Azeo, two holding companies of the group.
Michel David-Weill joined Lazard in 1956 at the age of 24, after studying at the French high school in New York and then at Sciences-Po Paris.
He had become CEO of the bank in 1975.
Under the leadership of Mr. David-Weill, Banque Lazard's teams guided major mergers, such as those of the French group Vivendi and the Canadian Seagram, or the marriage of Publicis with the British advertising agency Saatchi and Saatchi in 2000. .
Michel David-Weill was also honorary vice-chairman of the board of directors of the agri-food group Danone, in which Eurazeo was a shareholder from 1987 to 2013.
A great collector and patron, he was elected in 1982 as a member of the section of free members of the Academy of Fine Arts.
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His lifelong commitment to the service of the influence of arts and culture had been hailed by the insignia of Grand'Croix de la Légion d'Honneur, Officer of the National Order of Merit and Commander of Arts and Letters
" , the Academy said in a statement.