Felix Rohatyn | |
|---|---|
 Rohatyn in 1985 | |
| United States Ambassador to France | |
| In office September 11, 1997 – December 7, 2000 | |
| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | Pamela Harriman |
| Succeeded by | Howard H. Leach |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Felix George Rohatyn (1928-05-29)May 29, 1928 |
| Died | December 14, 2019(2019-12-14) (aged 91) New York City,New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Clarence Streit (former father-in-law) Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn (daughter-in-law) Nina Griscom (stepdaughter) |
| Education | Middlebury College (BS) |
Felix George Rohatyn (/ˈroʊɑːtɪn/ROH-ah-tin;[1] May 29, 1928 – December 14, 2019)[2] was an Americaninvestment banker and diplomat. He spent most of his career withLazard, where he brokered numerous large corporate mergers and acquisitions from the 1960s through the 1990s. In 1975, he played a central role in preventing the bankruptcy ofNew York City as chairman of theMunicipal Assistance Corporation and chief negotiator between the city, its labor unions and its creditors.
Rohatyn later became an outspoken advocate for rebuilding America's infrastructure, working with politicians and business leaders to craft guiding principles for strengthening infrastructure as co-chair of the Commission on Public Infrastructure. Rohatyn was involved in efforts to form a national infrastructure bank, and assisted in the rebuilding of New York City followingHurricane Sandy as co-chair of the New York State 2100 Commission.[3][4][5][6][7]
From 1997 to 2000, Rohatyn served asUnited States Ambassador to France.[8]
The name Rohatyn has been claimed to be ofTatar origins. Rohatyn was born in Vienna in 1928, the only son of Alexander Rohatyn, aPolish Jew, and Edith (Knoll) Rohatyn, a native of Austria, who divorced his father.[9] His great-grandfather, Feivel Rohatyn, was Chief Rabbi ofZlotshov, 50 km from Ukrainian townRohatyn. Rohatyn in Ukrainian (Slavic) translates "Horn Stacket" in English, then Zolochiv was inAustrian Galicia, now inUkraine.[10][9] His father managed breweries controlled by the family in Vienna,Romania, andYugoslavia.[11] The family leftAustria in 1935 forFrance. First living inOrléans, where his father was a brewery manager, and then inParis in 1937 following his parents' divorce, he attended theLycée Janson-de-Sailly,[12] where he was awarded a prize for excellence in 1938.[13]After theGerman invasion of France in 1940, they fled toCasablanca,Lisbon, and in 1941,Rio de Janeiro, before arriving in the United States in 1942.Luis Martins de Souza Dantas, the Brazilian ambassador to France, provided visas that enabled them to escape France andthe Holocaust by sailing fromMarseille to Casablanca.[14]
Rohatyn was educated at schools in France. On his arrival in the US in 1942 he joinedMcBurney School and later attendedMiddlebury College, where he graduatedB.S. in the class of 1949, majoring in physics.[15]
From Middlebury, Rohatyn joined the New York office of the investment bankLazard Frères underAndré Meyer. In 1950, he was drafted into theUnited States Army for two years[15] and ended his military service during theKorean War as asergeant.[4] He returned to Lazard in 1952[15] and was made a partner in the firm in 1961, going on to become managing director. While at Lazard he brokered numerous major mergers and acquisitions, notably on behalf ofInternational Telephone and Telegraph (ITT), where he became a director in 1966. He also served on the boards of the Englehard Mineral and Chemical Corporation, Howmet Turbine Component Corporation,Owens-Illinois,Pfizer, and theNew York Stock Exchange from 1968 to 1972.[16]
When the City of New York ran out of money in mid-April 1975,Governor of New YorkHugh Carey advanced state funds to the city to allow it to pay its bills, on the condition that the city turn over the management of its finances to the State of New York. Carey appointed Rohatyn to head ablue-ribbon advisory committee to look for a long-term solution to the city's fiscal problems. The advisory committee recommended the creation of theMunicipal Assistance Corporation (MAC), an independent corporation which was authorized to sell bonds to meet the borrowing needs of the city. While the deficit increased to $750 million, the MAC was established on June 10, 1975, with Rohatyn as chairman, and a board of nine prominent citizens.[17]
The MAC, led by Rohatyn, insisted that the city make major reforms, including awage freeze, a major layoff, a subway fare hike, and charging tuition at theCity University of New York. A state law converted the city sales tax and stock transfer tax into state taxes, which when collected were then used as security for the MAC bonds. Because the MAC did not create enough profit fast enough, the city created an Emergency Financial Control Board to monitor the city's finances. But even with all of these measures, the value of the MAC bonds dropped in price, and the city struggled to find the money to pay its employees and stay in operation. In November 1975 the federal government stepped in, with Congress extending $2.3 billion in short-term loans in return for more stringent measures. Rohatyn and the MAC directors persuaded the banks to defer the maturity of the bonds they held and to accept less interest, and convinced banks to buy MAC bonds to pay off the city's debts. The confidence in MAC bonds was restored, and under Rohatyn's chairmanship, the MAC successfully sold $10 billion in bonds.[18] By 1977–1978, New York City had eliminated its short-term debt. By 1985, the city no longer needed the support of the Municipal Assistance Corporation, and it voted itself out of existence.[17]
Rohatyn, as the chairman of the MAC and the chief negotiator between the city, the unions, and the banks, was widely given credit for the success of MAC and the rescue of New York City from bankruptcy, despite the large social costs. He also drew the fire of some critics, who accused him of bailing out the banks, while slashing workers' wages and benefits and reducing the power of municipal unions. As Rohatyn wrote in the MAC annual report, however, "The alternative to such cutbacks would have been bankruptcy for the city, which would have generated infinitely greater social costs".[16][19] In a letter toThe New York Times on March 4, 2012, Rohatyn attributed New York City's fiscal turnaround from possible bankruptcy in the late 1970s to the leadership of former New York Governor Hugh Carey and to the cooperative efforts of the city's banks and unions, though not to PresidentGerald Ford's belated agreement to federally guarantee the newly issued city bonds.
By the timeBill Clintonwas elected, Rohatyn had aspired to beUnited States Secretary of the Treasury since the 1970s. He had supported longtime clientRoss Perot's candidacy, however, and Clinton appointedLloyd Bentsen instead.[20] In 1996, the Clinton administration put forward his candidacy for the post ofVice Chairman of the Federal Reserve, but a formal nomination was not made because of ideological opposition from Republicans.[21]
According toThe New York Times, in the 1990s, Rohatyn describedderivatives as "financialhydrogen bombs, built on personal computers by 26-year-olds withM.B.A.s".[22] In 2006 Rohatyn joinedLehman Brothers as a senior advisor to chairmanDick Fuld.[23] On January 27, 2010, Rohatyn announced his return to Lazard as special advisor to the chairman and chief executive officer,[6] after a short role atRothschild.
Rohatyn wasUnited States Ambassador to France from 1997 to 2000, during the second term of theClinton Administration and was a Commander in the FrenchLegion of Honour. He was a member of theCouncil on Foreign Relations,American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a trustee for theCenter for Strategic and International Studies. He also delivered a speech toD-Day veterans atOmaha Beach in 1999, on the 55th anniversary of theLiberation of Normandy. He told them that a "democratic, prosperous Europe is the finest monument" to the veterans' exploits. He said, "I ask the children here today to look around — you are in the company of real heroes".[24]
As ambassador, he also organized the French-American Business Council,[25] a 40-member council of U.S. and Frenchcorporate chief executives which met annually, with meetings held alternately in the United States and France.[26] The council meetings included President Clinton,President Chirac andPrime Minister Jospin, as well as U.S. cabinet secretaries and French government ministers[27] and meetings continued during the presidencies ofGeorge W. Bush andNicolas Sarkozy.[28] While ambassador, Rohatyn also worked with theUnited States Conference of Mayors to establish the TransAtlantic Conference of Mayors that gathered U.S. and Europeanmayors to discuss urban and economic issues and build ties among their cities.[29] In addition, Mrs. Elizabeth Rohatyn founded the French Regional and American Museum Exchange (FRAME), a consortium of 26 French and North Americanart museums that works together to sponsor major, bilateral exhibitions and education programs.[30][31] After the Rohatyns left the ambassador's post in Paris, FRAME became an independent,non-profit organization, which Mrs. Rohatyn continued to co-chair. FRAME remains vibrant and active in 2020.[32]
TheNew York Times columnist,William Safire, once wrote about "the infrastructuralist Felix Rohatyn",[33] due to Rohatyn's long-time advocacy of rebuilding America'spublic infrastructure to strengthen the country's economy and globalcompetitiveness. In 2007, Rohatyn and the late SenatorWarren Rudman co-chaired the Commission on Public Infrastructure, a bipartisan council of governors, members of theUnited States Congress and U.S. business leaders sponsored by theCenter for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).[34] It drew up guiding principles for strengthening U.S. infrastructure. Its members included then U.S. SenatorsChristopher Dodd andChuck Hagel; based on the commission's work and findings, Dodd and Hagel introduced Senate legislation to create aNational Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank. When they left the Senate, sponsorship of the Bill was assumed by then SenatorsJohn Kerry andKay Bailey Hutchison.[34] Rohatyn also worked with CongresswomanRosa DeLauro, who has authored a House bill to create an infrastructure bank.[35] Rohatyn testified in both the House and Senate in support of the law.[34]
His book,Bold Endeavors: How our Government Built America, and Why It Must Rebuild Now, argues that a national infrastructure investment program would have a transformational effect and lift theU.S. economy, as did historic federal projects such as theFirst transcontinental railroad, theG.I. Bill,Land Grant Colleges and theInterstate Highway System.[36] AfterSuperstorm Sandy, New York GovernorAndrew Cuomo appointed Rohatyn co-chair of the New York State 2100 Commission, which developed strategies for rebuilding after the hurricane.[37] Rohatyn also served as co-chair of the New York Works Task Force on Infrastructure.[38]
Rohatyn was married twice. In 1956, he marriedJeanette Streit (1924–2012), the daughter of journalist andAtlanticist,Clarence Streit. They divorced in 1979. They had three children, Pierre Rohatyn, Nicolas Rohatyn, and Michael Rohatyn.[39][40][3]
In 1979, he married Elizabeth Fly Vagliano. Elizabeth died on October 10, 2016, at the age of 86.[41][42][43] Rohatyn died on December 14, 2019, inManhattan. He was 91.[44]
His son Nicolas is married to the art galleristJeanne Greenberg Rohatyn.[3] His stepdaughter was the modelNina Griscom, who died on January 25, 2020.
A conversation with businessman, investment banker, and U.S. Ambassador to France Felix Rohatyn about escaping from the Nazis as a child, returning to France as an adult, his mentors, his career, and his philosophy. His wife, Elizabeth Fly Rohatyn, vice chairman of the board of Channel 13 and chairman of the New York Public Library, and former New York Governor Hugh Carey join in to give their perspectives.
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | United States Ambassador to France 1997–2000 | Succeeded by |
| Envoys to France (1776–1779) |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Ministers Plenipotentiary to France (1778–1815) | ||
| Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to France (1816–1893) | ||
| Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to France (1893–present) | ||
