Jeffrey A. Rosen – 50th Reunion Essay

Jeffrey A. Rosen

550 Park Avenue

New York, NY 10065-7345

Jeffrey.rosen@lazard.com

917-514-2921

Spouse(s): Marjorie Grad Rosen (1974)

Child(ren): Andrew (1975), Daniel (1979)

Grandchild(ren): Calla Lily Rosen (2018)

Education: Yale, AB 1969; Harvard University, MBA With Distinction 1972

Career: Investment Banking, Deputy Chairman of Lazard (2002–present); White Weld (to 1978), Credit Suisse First Boston (to 1982), The First Boston Corporation (to 1988), Wasserstein Perella (to 2002),

Avocations: Non-Executive Director, WPP plc 2004–2015; President, Board of Trustees, International Center of Photography; Council on Foreign Relations; Trustee and Treasurer, Jewish Theological Seminary; Collegiate School (NYC) Trustee

College: Davenport

Yale dates reunions from our graduation in 1969, the end of our Yale experience.

For me, my Yale experience effectively began in 1964, before we matriculated.

It was then, well before I had thought of applying to Yale, that I met John Yarmuth and Steve Schwarzman in (of all places) Bangor, Maine, at a national conference for student council presidents.

A year later, we were reunited as freshmen: John in Vanderbilt and Steve next door in Farnam.

Thus began two of the many important “friendships formed at Yale,” which have deepened in significance over the past 55 years.

The record of my last 50 years is distilled in the accompanying dry list of milestones—marriage, children, granddaughter, business school, professional life, outside interests.

It is the texture of those years which I hope brings them to life:

My career began at White Weld in New York in 1972 in domestic corporate finance. It took a European (and, eventually and permanently, international) turn two years later when we moved to London, our home from 1974–1982. Andrew, our first son, was born in New York during a brief return in 1975; Daniel, our second son, was born in London in 1979.

We returned to New York with First Boston in 1982, but London remained effectively a second home for the next 20 years. I commuted there monthly, often weekly, initially to help First Boston’s business and then to run Wasserstein Perella’s European business as part of my overall responsibility for its international business.

Paris became our second home when I joined Lazard (with Bruce Wasserstein) in 2002. Paris and London have been the “bases,” alongside New York, for business and personal interests here and throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, which have influenced Marjorie’s and my development.

My career has been one of advising the heads of companies and governmental organizations on what made sense for them strategically and financially and, if a new direction, how best to engineer it.

Through business, many friendships worldwide began, transcended business, and still are important to Marjorie and me.

Outside activities—especially the International Center of Photography (as president of the board of trustees), WPP (as a non-executive director from 2004–2015), and the Council on Foreign Relations – have broadened me and added the opportunity and challenge of applying what I have learned through investment banking to helping other organizations grow and succeed.

Above all, family:

Marjorie, whose love and support is the cornerstone of my life and made any success possible. Her talents for gardening are a source of pride: in the beautiful gardens that she designed for our East Hampton home and in her stature at The New York Botanical Garden, where she is both a vice chair and chair of the Horticulture Committee and the namesake of The Marjorie G. Rosen Seasonal Walk.

Our sons, Andrew and Daniel, have grown into the kind of men I hoped they would be, thanks to Marjorie’s love and support for them, especially during my too-many trips. And, most recently, Calla Lily, our granddaughter and Daniel’s first child, and Kelly, Daniel’s wife, remind me of the joys of life’s repeating cycle.

Will Bogaty, a special friend whose untimely passing was eulogized so beautifully and eloquently by Jimmy Schweitzer, ended his essay for our 25th reunion with a distillation of his years into a few principles. I conclude in that spirit and in his memory:

1) Pendulums swing. Watch out when they swing the wrong way.

2) In the words of that great philosopher, Monty Python: “Always look at the bright side of life.”

3) Pascal’s Wager has broader application than God’s existence alone.

4) Be nice to people on the way up; you never know who you will meet on the way down.

5) Have humility. Luck and serendipity has as much or more to do with success as talent and ability.

6) Success can be fleeting. Family and friends endure, but need nurturing.

7) Don’t slow down. Accelerate!!