Episode 23: Roger Altman - Founder of Evercore

This week, I had the honor of sitting down with Roger Altman—an icon of American finance whose influence spans Wall Street, Washington, and beyond. Roger began his career at Lehman Brothers, where he became the youngest-ever general partner in the firm’s history. In the 1980s, he played a key role in the founding chapter of Blackstone, working alongside Pete Peterson and Stephen Schwarzman as they shaped what would become one of the world’s largest alternative asset managers. But Roger’s contributions didn’t end in the private sector.

He twice served in the U.S. Treasury Department, including as Deputy Secretary under President Clinton, helping steer the country through critical fiscal and economic decisions. Then in 1995, he founded Evercore with a vision for a firm that would combine world-class financial advice with independence, integrity, and client-first values. Since then, Evercore has grown into a $10 billion company that has advised on over $5 trillion in transactions—earning a place among the most respected firms on Wall Street.

In our conversation, Roger shares reflections from a career that has intersected with nearly every major financial and political turning point of the last 50 years. We explore his early days at Lehman, his transition into public service, and the values that guided him as he built Evercore from scratch. He opens up about the lessons that skills that have aided him in the competitive enviornment of Wall Street, and the advice he’d give to a 15-year-old trying to make sense of the world today.