Felix the Fixer…
[evidently my old pal Felix Rohatyn was quite the stick man]
New York Daily News - April 4, 2007
Superbanker & gal pals invested in mutual fun By GEORGE RUSH & JOANNA MOLLOY
Who says investment bankers are dull? Former Lazard Freres big Felix =
Rohatyn not only brokered multibillion-dollar deals, helped save New =
York City from fiscal ruin and served as ambassador to France - the =
rainmaker also allegedly carried on the firm’s proud Gallic tradition =
as rou=E9.
In his dishy new book about Lazard, “The Last Tycoons,” William D. =
Cohan recounts the tale of Rohatyn’s boss, Andre Meyer, finding the =
door of his employee’s office locked.
“Andre … knocked briskly on the door and called Felix’s name,” =
writes Cohan. “Finally he yelled … ‘Felix, why don’t you go to a =
hotel room like the rest of my partners!’ “
Rumor had it that Rohatyn was inside with actress Shirley MacLaine. =
Others said he was with a secretary “who shortly thereafter enrolled =
- at no cost to her - in business school,” says Cohan.
Rohatyn denied the office story. “I didn’t need the office to get =
laid,” he told Cohan.
Indeed, Cohan reports that in 1977, before Rohatyn remarried, he =
moved into a lavish duplex at 770 Park, where, according to a Lazard =
partner, “two hookers showed up at the same time one night in the =
lobby … Each of them asked for Felix.”
According to the book, even after he started dating his future wife, =
Liz, Rohatyn had a fling with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Ex- =
girlfriend Helene Gaillet suspected the affair didn’t last because =
“the glare of publicity around Jackie was too intense and put less of =
the limelight on [Felix],” Cohan writes.
Rohatyn, who has been married to Liz for 27 years, was unavailable =
for comment.
Cohan, who worked for six years at Lazard, says dangerous liaisons =
were tolerated at the firm. He asserts that the first female bankers =
were constantly hit upon - and that one young woman was even said to =
have been raped by two junior bankers, who were never prosecuted.
Cohan also notes that the firm was unable to squelch word about the =
kinky murder in 2005 of former Lazard banker Edouard Stern, who was =
found shot dead in his Geneva apartment wearing a flesh-colored latex =
suit. He and his French lover, who confessed to the killing, had =
fought over a $1 million bank account.
Lazard spokeswoman Judi Mackey said in a statement that the book was =
“a sensationalized account” that “has nothing to do with the present =
state of Lazard or its business.”
A spokesman for Doubleday, which publishes the book April 17, =
defended the 740-page work as “meticulously researched and reported.”