Felix Rohatyn

Felix George Rohatyn ( ROH-ah-tin; born May 29, 1928) is an American investment banker. He has spent most of his career with Lazard, 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 of New York City as chairman of the Municipal Assistance Corp. (MAC) and chief negotiator between the city, its labor unions and its creditors. He later became an outspoken advocate for rebuilding America's infrastructure, working with Congressmen and U.S. business leaders to craft guiding principles for strengthening U.S. infrastructure as co-chair of the Commission on Public Infrastructure. Rohatyn has been involved in efforts to form a national infrastructure bank, and assisted in the rebuilding of New York following Superstorm Sandy as co-chair of the New York State 2100 Commission.Between 1997 and 2000 he served as United States Ambassador to France. He was a long-term advisor to the U.S. Democratic Party.