Lazard 175: The San Francisco Earthquake
As we celebrate the 175th anniversary of Lazard's founding in 1848, we are commemorating this momentous occasion by highlighting some of the most celebrated episodes and leaders from the firm's history.
Below, we share the story of Lazard and the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906.
New Orleans had been home to Lazard Frères & Co. since Alexandre and Lazare Lazard first arrived in the United States in 1841. They had built a successful dry goods business in the city, prospering for almost a decade and enabling their younger brothers Simon, Elie and Maurice to join them.
When news of spectacular gold discoveries in California reached New Orleans, however, the brothers determined to seize the opportunity. In 1851, Simon, Elie, and Maurice moved the business to San Francisco, opening a new store to serve the booming local economy.
City records show Lazard’s early growth. While more than half of the merchants who launched businesses in San Francisco during the 1850s failed, Lazard thrived. According to tax records from 1857, of the 120 wholesale and retail fashion and novelty companies in the city, Lazard’s revenues ranked second. The family’s reputation for sound business and fair dealing grew.
By the 1870s, Lazard Frères had become a household name in California. Widely esteemed for its trustworthiness, the company eventually transitioned out of dry goods and into banking.
Meanwhile, the brothers established roots in San Francisco, serving on local business associations and community groups. Elie became a volunteer fireman, an important role in a city built of wood. The danger posed by San Francisco’s timber construction became devastatingly apparent on the morning of April 18, 1906.
Just before dawn, an 8.3-magnitude earthquake rocked the Bay Area, sparking uncontrollable fires that rapidly spread across the young city. Before the blazes reached Lazard’s local banking branch, a quick-thinking manager named Richard Altschul hurried to the building and filled the bank’s two safes to capacity with stock certificates, important documents, and one million dollars in cash.
The extent of the disaster cannot be exaggerated. Almost all banks destroyed. Our building entirely destroyed. Safes apparently intact...Friends unharmed... Take measures to immediately place funds at our disposal. Do not know if your telegrams will reach us
That night, fire consumed the building. The city was a chaotic scene. Thousands were dead; fires still raged; and the survivors stumbled about the ruins in a state of shock. It took two days for Altschul to find a telegraph office that could reach New York. His message: “The extent of the disaster cannot be exaggerated. Almost all banks destroyed. Our building entirely destroyed. Safes apparently intact...Friends unharmed... Take measures to immediately place funds at our disposal. Do not know if your telegrams will reach us.”
Lazard’s New York branch quickly stepped up with financial relief, but the telegraph lines were so overloaded that Altschul and his co-workers did not receive a response for an entire week.
At last, reassuring words and funds began to arrive and Lazard could help the city rebuild. Two million dollars from the firm’s partners, in cash and credit, provided loans until clients’ insurance claims were settled, and until Lazard could open its safes without the risk of igniting their contents with the still-glowing embers.
Although San Francisco had not been the firm’s home base for many years by this time, the experience was seared on Lazard’s institutional memory, demonstrating the importance of a resilient global network — and the value of partnership.
