NYTimes had a nice article on Lazard CEO Bruce Wasserstein. "Bid Em Up Bruce," or so he's called, has done what many thought to be the unthinkable. He joined the side of an activist investor. Lazard teamed up with the venerable activisit Carl Icahn to try to break up Time Warner. The engagement had bankers, professionals, and analysts abuzz because for years, investment banks had shunned the idea of providing advisory services to activist investors, often out of fear that corporate America would deem the investment bank as "on the other team."

But Lazard joined forces with Carl Icahn and actually released a 300+ page report on some of Time Warner's screw-ups and some of the reasons why Time Warner split-up would be worth more than Time Warner as it stands today.

Interestingly, given all the hoopla surrounding Lazard and Icahn, Icahn recently came out and said he would back off his initial goals given that Time Warner had acted on some of his suggestions.

Time Warner shareholders are livid, given the performance of the stock. Once an internet darling following the merger of AOL and Time Warner, the Company has languished in tech bubble futility. Many question what value Time Warner really serves. Time will only tell.

Go here for an overview of the Lazard report on the Time Warner situation.