Peter R. Orszag

Peter Richard Orszag (born December 16, 1968) is an American business executive and former government official. He is the chief executive officer (CEO) and chairman of Lazard.

Orszag's past positions included being the 37th director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under President Barack Obama and director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

Orszag is a member of the National Academy of Medicine of the National Academies of Sciences. He is on the Boards of Directors of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Mount Sinai Hospital, and the Institute for Advanced Study.

Early life Orszag grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts, the son of Reba (née Karp) and Steven Orszag, the president and owner of a research and development company and a math professor, respectively. His paternal great-grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Hungary who immigrated to New York City in 1903. His brother is Jonathan Orszag.

After graduating from Phillips Exeter Academy with high honors (1987), Orszag earned an A.B. in economics from Princeton University in 1991. He then received a M.Sc. (1992) and a Ph.D. (1997) in economics from the London School of Economics on the Marshall Scholarship. He was a Marshall Scholar 1991–1992, and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Career Early years Orszag became a lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley, and taught macroeconomics in 1999 and 2000. He then became a senior fellow and deputy director of economic studies at the Brookings Institution.

He was Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy (1997–1998), and as Senior Economist and Senior Adviser on the Council of Economic Advisers (1995–1996) during the Clinton administration. in 2005.

Congressional Budget Office (2007-2008) Orszag was director of the Congressional Budget Office from January 2007 to November 2008. During his time at the CBO, he added 20 full-time health analysts (bringing the total number to 50).

Office of Management and Budget (2008-2011) 2009 budget meetingOn November 25, 2008, President-elect Barack Obama announced that Orszag would be his nominee for director of the Office of Management and Budget, the arm of the White House responsible for crafting the federal budget and overseeing the effectiveness of federal programs. thumb

He was invited to attend the Bilderberg Group conferences in 2010, 2011 and 2012. He was also a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a contributing columnist for the New York Times op-ed page.

In July 2010 Orszag said that "The problem now is weak growth and high unemployment rather than outright economic collapse". Still, the deficit would be equivalent to 10 percent of the gross domestic product, the highest level since World War II. The Office of Management and Budget's mid-session review, forecast a smaller deficit and stronger economic growth than the administration's initial budget release. The deficit forecast in 2011 increased to $1.42 trillion, up from the $1.27 estimate in February. For 2012, the deficit estimate rose to $922 billion, up from $828 billion in the previous report. The annual budget shortfall would bottom out in 2017 at $721 billion, or 3.4 percent of GDP, and begin rising again in following years.

Citigroup (2011-2016) After leaving the Obama administration, Orszag took a job with Citigroup in 2011. While remaining Citigroup's Vice Chair of Corporate and Investment Banking as well as Chairman of Citigroup's Financial Strategy and Solutions Group, in 2015, he rejoined the Brookings Institution as a non-resident senior fellow of the Economic Studies program. He was named Global Co-Head of Healthcare in July 2018, and subsequently Head of North American M&A. Orszag took over as CEO of Lazard's Financial Advisory in April 2019, overseeing the firm's advisory work for corporations and governments. He created Lazard Geopolitical Advisory in 2022 while CEO of Lazard's Financial Advisory. Also while in the role, he expanded data analytics and AI for the firm's banking and asset management businesses.

Orszag was announced as the future CEO of Lazard in early 2023. Orszag assumed the position of Lazard CEO on October 1, 2023. He recruited former PayPal CEO Dan Schulman to the Lazard board in January 2024, when he also oversaw the board appointment of former Ernst & Young chairman Stephen R. Howe Jr. In mid 2024, Bloomberg reported that Orszag was eyeing the acquisition of firms particularly in the fields of private credit, infrastructure, and real estate. Effective January 1, 2025, his role expanded to serve as both CEO and chairman.

In the two quarters following Orszag becoming CEO, the firm generated almost $1 billion in fees from deals. The following year, Orszag was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Advanced Study, alongside astrophysicist Victoria Kaspi and attorney Kevin L. MacMillan. They had two children before divorcing. In 2010, Orszag married Bianna Golodryga, then co-host of ABC's GMA Weekend. They have a son and a daughter. Orszag is Jewish. In 2014, a judge ruled in Orszag's favor in a child support case brought by his first wife.