Following World War II, the firm made a name for itself as an investment banker for the technology oriented companies of the period.

In the early 1980s, the firm emerged as the leading underwriter of initial public offerings, surpassing the elite investment banks (at the time, including Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley).

[4] Following the 1986 departure of Tom Unterberg and Bob Towbin for Lehman Brothers, the firm became known as L.F. Rothschild until it filed Chapter 11 in 1989.

Subsequently, in 1990, Tom Unterberg started a new firm with investment banker Bob Harris, formerly of Alex.

After January 2002, John Gutfreund, a former CEO of Salomon Brothers became senior managing director of the bank.