Wikipedia's first sentence called it “executive chairman of lazard”. Today it says “american business executive”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the October 6, 2023 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in October 6, 2023
Jacobs (born September 1958) is the Executive Chairman of Lazard . Jacobs joined Lazard in 1988. Jacobs was named a Lazard Partner in 1991, and in 2002 he was named Deputy Chairman and Head of North America for Lazard. In this role, he focused on enhancing the firm's business by entering into new markets and adding new practices, such as restructuring, strategic capital structure advice, and private fund advisory. He also focused on bringing in new staff specializing in energy, technology and healthcare. Jacobs also expanded Lazard’s financial advisory business through an acquisition in the US Middle Market, which is now called Private Market Advisory. In November 2009, the Lazard Board of Directors unanimously elected Jacobs to serve as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lazard. On May 26, 2023, Lazard announced that Jacobs will transition to serve as Executive Chairman of the Board, effective October 1, 2023. He will continue to advise clients on financial strategic matters. Jacobs is a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Chicago and the Brookings Institution . Jacobs earned a B.A. in economics from the University of Chicago and an M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business .1 J. de la Merced, Michael (November 17, 2009). The New York Times . The Wall Street Journal . JACOBS CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER" . Jacobs as Executive Chairman" .2
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1178436793.
The opening as it stood in 2015
Jacobs is the chairman and chief executive officer of Lazard since November 16, 2009. Jacobs joined Lazard in 1988. Jacobs was named a Lazard Partner in 1991, and in 2002 he was named Deputy Chairman and Head of North America for Lazard. In this role, he focused on enhancing the firm's business by entering into new markets and adding new practices, such as restructuring, strategic capital structure advice, and private fund advisory. He also focused on bringing in new staff specializing in energy, technology and healthcare. Jacobs has also expanded Lazard’s financial advisory business through an acquisition in the US Middle Market, which is now called Lazard Middle Market. Jacobs is a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Chicago and the Brookings Institution. Jacobs earned a B.A. in economics from the University of Chicago and an M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business . He is a member of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 662544471.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Jacobs is the chairman and chief executive officer of Lazard since November 16, 2009. Jacobs joined Lazard in 1988. Jacobs was named a Lazard Partner in 1991, and in 2002 he was named Deputy Chairman and Head of North America for Lazard. In this role, he focused on enhancing the firm's business by entering into new markets and adding new practices, such as restructuring, strategic capital structure advice, and private fund advisory. He also focused on bringing in new staff specializing in energy, technology and healthcare. Jacobs has also expanded Lazard’s financial advisory business through an acquisition in the US Middle Market, which is now called Lazard Middle Market. Jacobs is a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Chicago and the Brookings Institution . Jacobs earned a B.A. in economics from the University of Chicago and an M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business . He is a member of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 884507695.
The opening as it stood in 2025 15 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Jacobs (born September 1958) is an American business executive.He was the CEO and chairman of Lazard from 2009 until September 2023, when he became executive chairman. J. de la Merced, Michael (November 17, 2009).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1297699067. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “executive chairman of lazard”. Today it says “american business executive”. Read the current article and compare.
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since October 7, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
executive chairman of lazard
Now
american business executive
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
