Paris (AFP)

The businessman and media investor Matthieu Pigasse, who is among the major shareholders in the world, will leave the Lazard bank at the end of the year, a resignation motivated by him by "a personal project" still kept secret.

The resignation was announced Sunday in a statement from the US investment bank, which he directed the French subsidiary, and take effect on December 31.

In a letter to the employees of Lazard France, sent to several media including AFP, Mr. Pigasse explains that he "decided to engage in a personal project of an entrepreneurial nature" after "fifteen exciting years at Lazard ", where he held the position of CEO of the French subsidiary, but also deputy general director of financial advice at the global level.

"It was a difficult decision to make (...) that I thought carefully," writes Mr. Pigasse in his letter. "I spoke at length with Ken Jacobs," the boss of Lazard, "and I gave him my resignation to be able to devote myself to the finalization of my project".

It does not give details in the immediate future, but according to a source close to the file questioned Sunday by AFP, he should say more "very quickly", within a few weeks maximum, on the nature of his projects.

Born in 1968 in Clichy, Matthieu Pigasse joined the Treasury Department when he left the ENA. He trained with Dominique Strauss-Kahn in Bercy, before becoming the deputy director of Laurent Fabius and then move into the private sector.

He has participated in major transactions at Lazard, notably restructuring "the debts of Greece, Argentina, the Republic of Congo", or transactions for large companies of the CAC 40, he recalls in his letter to the employees.

But for several years now he has also been running his own private investment activities in the media and culture.

He thus formed a group, LNEI (The Independent New Editions), which holds in particular the magazine Les Inrocks, Radio Nova or Rock en Seine.

In 2010, Mr. Pigasse also participated in the recapitalization of the daily newspaper Le Monde, with telecom magnate Xavier Niel and luxury magnate Pierre Bergé, who has since passed away.

- Tensions -

Mr Pigasse sold part of his shares in Le Monde last year to Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky. An operation that allowed him to deleverage but raised a great concern within the daily.

After months of tension over the future of the newspaper and the structure of its capital, he finally made peace in September with Xavier Niel and ceded to the demands of the newspaper's editorial board, which demanded the right to obtain approval, that is to say, a kind of right of scrutiny on the evolution of daily capital.

In the announcement announcing the departure of Mr. Pigasse, the CEO of Lazard Ken Jacobs pays tribute to his action. "Thanks to his passion, his intensity and his commitment to excellence, Lazard has assembled a team of very talented bankers, and built the best investment bank in France", he says, regretting that he has "unfortunately decided to resign".

But several media have reported tensions between Mr. Pigasse and other leaders of the US bank. According to Mediapart, quoting US banking sources, Ken Jacobs "decided to make an impromptu trip" to Paris Sunday, Monday and Tuesday to finalize the departure of Mr. Pigasse.

His successor at Lazard France was not announced immediately, but the bank "will announce a new management team in France shortly," she said Sunday.

© 2019 AFP