Lazard Shares Up After Naming CEO

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Lazard Ltd.(LAZ Quote) shares rose in early afternoon trades Tuesday after the company named longtime insider Kenneth Jacobs to the chairman and CEO posts.

Jacobs is succeeding Bruce Wasserstein in both positions. Wasserstein passed away on Oct. 14 at the age of 61.

Jacobs previously was CEO of the company's North America operations. He's been with Lazard since 1988, according to the company's Web site, and became a partner in the financial advisory and asset management firm in 1991. He's also served as a deputy chairman since 2002.

Steven Golub had served as interim CEO, and he will now return to his roles as vice chairman of Lazard, and chairman of its Financial Advisory Group. Lazard also named Ashish Bhutani and Gary Parr to its board, and to serve as vice chairmen, effective Jan. 4, 2010. Bhutani will continue as CEO of Lazard Asset Management. Parr is currently a partner and deputy chairman with the firm.

Lazard shares were up 1.8% to $40.36 on volume of 746,667. The issue's three-month daily average churn is a little above 1 million. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock is up nearly 64% based on Monday's close, although it's now pulled back almost 10% since reaching a high for the past year of $44.62 on Oct. 9.

Written by Michael Baron in New York.