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Home , Amschel Rothschild, Ariane de Rothschild, Eric de Rothschild, Guy de Rothschild, Mayer Amschel Rothschild, Nathan Mayer Rothschild

The Rothschilds

© 2020 – Dr. Don G. Pickney

The name means "Red Shield" in German. The family's ascent to international prominence began with the birth of Mayer Amschel Bauer in am Main, . He was the son of Amschel Bauer, and changed his name from Bauer to Mayer Amschel (after the red shield hung over the door of his goldsmith business), a money changer of and silver coins who began his fortune trading with the Prince of Hesse. Born in the "Judengasse", the of Frankfurt, Mayer developed a finance house and spread his family’s empire by installing each of his five sons in the five main European financial centres to conduct business of banking. The Rothschild coat of arms contains a clenched fist with five arrows symbolizing the five established by the five sons of Mayer Rothschild, in a reference to Psalm 127: "Like arrows in the hands of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth." The family motto appears below the shield: Concordia, Integritas, Industria (Unity, Integrity, Industry).

Paul Bede Johnson (born 2 November 1928) is an English journalist, noted historian, speechwriter, and author. He was awarded in 2006 the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush. The 92 year old Johnson was most recently given the honorary title “Commander of the Order of the ” in 2016. Johnson, the most authoritative writer of the Rothschilds, writes:

"The Rothschilds are elusive. There is no book about them that is both revealing and accurate. Libraries of nonsense have been written about them. A woman who planned to write a book entitled Lies about the Rothschilds abandoned it, saying: ‘It was relatively easy to spot the lies, but it proved impossible to find out the truth of this elusive .’"

Johnson writes that, unlike the court Jews of earlier centuries, who had financed and managed European noble houses, but often lost their through violence or expropriation, the new kind of international created by the Rothschilds was impervious to local attacks. Their assets were held in financial instruments, circulating through the world as stocks, bonds and debts. Changes made by the Rothschilds allowed them to insulate their property from local violence: "Henceforth their real wealth was beyond the reach of the mob, in truth beyond the reach of greedy monarchs." Johnson argued, “Their fortune was generated to the greatest extent by in ; however, more recent research indicates that greater and equal profits also were realized over the years by the more spread-out Rothschild dynasties, including James Mayer de Rothschild in , Carl Mayer von Rothschild in and Amschel Mayer Rothschild in Frankfurt.”

Another essential part of Mayer Rothschild's strategy for future success was to keep control of their in family hands, allowing them to maintain full secrecy about the size of their fortunes. In about 1906, noted: "The practice initiated by the Rothschilds of having several brothers of the firm establish branches in the different financial centers, was followed by other immensely wealthy Jewish financiers, like the Bischoffsheims, Pereires, Seligmans, Brothers, and others, and these financiers by their shrewdness and financial skill obtained credit not just with their Jewish confrères, but with the banking fraternity in general. By this means Jewish financiers obtained an increasing share of international finance during the middle and last quarter of the nineteenth century. The head of the entire group, however is the dynasty." It also states: "Of more recent years, non-Jewish financiers have learned the same cosmopolitan method, and, on the whole, the control is now rather less than more in Jewish hands than formerly."

Mayer Rothschild successfully kept the fortune in the family with carefully arranged marriages, often between first or second cousins (similar to royal intermarriage). By the late 19th century, however, almost all Rothschilds had started to marry outside the family, notably however into the aristocracy or intermarrying into other financial dynasties. His sons were:

• Mayer (1773–1855): Frankfurt, • Salomon Mayer Rothschild (1774–1855): • Nathan Mayer Rothschild (1777–1836): London • Calmann Mayer Rothschild (1788–1855): Naples • Jakob Mayer Rothschild (1792–1868): Paris

The German family name "Rothschild" is pronounced approximately RAWT-shilt in German, and ROTH(S)-chyld in English.

Today, in the Twenty-first Century, it is impossible to calculate the immense wealth, and the grip that the Rothschilds holds on every part of modern civilization as they remain in the background, cleverly hidden by their agents throughout the global community.

Paul Bead Johnson (the historian and winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, bestowed by President George W. Bush) insists, “there is no part of any of humanity that is not in some manner affected by the grip of finance and power employed in secret realms of every industrialized nation.”

The Addendum on the next two page illustrates the Royalty-like lifestyle of the Rothschild family over the past few centuries.

Addendum

A Rothschild house, Manor in Waddesdon, , donated to charity by the family in 1957.

A house formerly belonging to the Viennese branch of the family (Schillersdorf Palace).

Schloss Hinterleiten, one of the many palaces built by the Austrian Rothschild dynasty. Donated to charity by the family in 1905.

Beatrice de Rothschild's villa on the Côte d'Azur,

Palace of Albert von Rothschild, (photo 1884)

Château de Montvillargenne. A Rothschild family house in Picardy, France.

Deal ties Rockefeller, Rothschild dynasties By Emily Jane Fox @CNNMoney May 30, 2012: 1:49 PM ET

John D. Rockefeller Jr., left, and John D. Rockefeller, who dealt with the Rothschilds more than a century before Wednesday's deal. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Two of the most storied families in the business world -- the Rothschilds and the Rockefellers -- are coming together in an investment partnership. The Rothschilds' London-listed RIT Capital Partners said Wednesday that it will acquire a 37% stake in Rockefeller's wealth advisory and asset management group from Société Générale Private Banking for an undisclosed sum. The deal gives the Rothschild trust, whose net assets total £1.9 billion, a toehold in the . RIT said the partnership stems from a personal relationship between , 96, and Jacob Rothschild, 76, that spans five decades. But the thread that sews these dynasties together dates back much further. In the 1890s, after fierce competition between them, the Rothschilds and John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil attempted to form a global oil marketing alliance that was eventually thwarted by Russia's government, according to Penn State University's College of Earth and Mineral Studies. Since John D. Rockefeller, several family members have risen to prominence in finance and politics. They include Nelson Rockefeller, who was governor of New York and vice president of the United States, and John D. Rockefeller IV, currently the senior U.S. senator from West Virginia. The Rothschild dynasty was established in Frankfurt by in the late 18th century. The family's wealth, once estimated as one of the largest private fortunes in the world, allowed it to help finance Britain's war against and a loan for the British government to purchase the . (What business leaders can learn from the Renaissance) "The connection between our two families remains very strong," David Rockefeller said in a statement. "I am delighted to welcome Jacob and RIT as shareholders and partners in the ongoing development of our investment management and wealth advisory businesses."

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rench banker David de Rothschild at a meeting of the World Jewish Congress in Berlin, Sept. 2014. (Photo/Wikimedia)

The (real) Rothschild origin story

The basic outline of the Rothschild story, retold in several best-selling books, a 1934 movie, and a hit Broadway musical, are pretty well known: Mayer Amschel Rothschild, born in 1744, was a dealer in coins and a money lender in the Frankfurt ghetto, whose house was near a red shield – hence roth schild. At the beginning of the 19th century, he dispatched his five sons to set up banks in Frankfurt, London, Paris, Vienna, and Naples, creating a unique international network for marshaling and moving vast sums of money.

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Mayer Amschel Rothschild (Illustration/Wikimedia)

The five houses worked together and prospered as they raised money for the industrialization of Europe, financing railroads, mining companies, and factories. They provided the cash for the British purchase of the Suez Canal and financed the Napoleonic and Austro-Prussian wars. The Rothschilds also were bankers to the Czars and raised what was needed to pay for its liberation from Portugal.

The Rothschilds virtually invented the government bond, which became critical in financing the military and imperial aspirations of assorted crowned heads of Europe. Hence, the British novelist William Thackeray said of ’s Nathan Rothschild, he was “not king of the Jews but the Jew of the kings.” Nathan, said to be the richest man in the world in his day, would become the first Jewish member of the House of Lords. (Yes, got there first, but he had already converted to Christianity.)

They built fabulous houses and amassed the largest private art collection in the world. , one of some four dozen owned by the family, sat on 6,000 acres, and the Langau estate outside Vienna was nearly the size of Manhattan. They acquired leading vineyards and bred racehorses. The French Rothschilds built an industrial empire that included steel plants and railroads. And wherever they were, they were considered the titular heads of the local Jewish community.

As such, the Rothschilds were beacons, and frequent benefactors, for the downtrodden Jews of Eastern Europe. When Tevye the dairyman sings “If I Were a Rich Man” in Fiddler on the Roof, he is channeling a 1902 Sholem Aleichem monologue: Venn ich bin a Rothschild — “If I were a Rothschild.”

As the 20th century began, the family empire began morphing into an invisible dynasty, creating shadow, behind the scenes empires that may only be discovered by the many bits of news information whenever they allow a peek in the news media.

After World War Two, the two remaining Rothschild-owned Central banks, in London and Paris became synonymous with the Rothschild family.

In London, NM Rothschild prospered as a gold bullion dealer as well as a advising major corporations and governments, most notably Margaret Thatcher’s landmark privatization program. In France, Baron was rebuilt the bank which also

9 owned a sizable industrial empire, before Baron Guy left France for New York. His son David created a new company under the name Paris Orléans — a global corporate shell had held vast amounts of family’s investments — and when Jacques Chirac became prime minister in 1986, the Banque Rothschild name was revived to house many of its globally-owned entities.

Baron Guy de Rothschild (Photo/Wikimedia)

The (real) modern Rothschild family

Meanwhile, internal troubles were welling up. In Paris, the second son decamped for Switzerland, and in 1953, he would set up the Edmond de Rothschild Group, a private bank specializing in asset management. In London, after Jacob clashed with his cousin Evelyn, the chief executive officer of NM Rothschild, he resigned from the bank in 1980 and took control of Rothschild Investment Trust, an investment company (Later renamed RIT Capital Partners). Jacob would go on to become the richest Rothschild of modern times.

As the financial world became dominated by global behemoths, the London and Paris banks began working together to bulk up. Besides, London was running out of Rothschilds. Evelyn’s cousin, Amschel Rothschild, who had reluctantly joined the bank, hanged himself in 1996. Evelyn’s son David became an environmental activist and his other son, Anthony James de Rothschild, was a record producer. Cousin Jacob had gone elsewhere, as had his son Nathaniel. The British and French banks, which had long had cross-shareholdings, formally came together in 2003. Evelyn sold his shares to his French cousins in 2007 for a reported $233 million, and David René de Rothschild, Baron Guy’s son, became chief executive officer as the two banks were fully merged in 2012.

Some thought Nathaniel, Jacob’s only son would eventually succeed David, and, in Star Wars fashion, unify the empire. But Nat clashed with David in 2013. Nat had cofounded an Indonesian mining company called Bumi Plc but he got in a dispute with his partners, an influential Indonesian family. Bumi’s board called in a merchant bank to help sort out the issues. That bank was NM Rothschild, which was now advising Nat’s adversaries. So it was no surprise that when David announced his plans to retire from the bank in 2018, at age 75, his successor as chief executive officer would not be Nat but rather David’s 37-year-old son, Alexandre de Rothschild.

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Ariane de Rothschild (Photo/Wikimedia)

However, the most public quarrel came between Edmond de Rothschild’s company and the Anglo-French bank. In April 2015, David proposed that the holding company for the London and Paris banks — Paris Orleans — be renamed Rothschild & Co. and the brand would be “Rothschild.” , the wife of Edmond’s son Benjamin and the newly named managing director of Edmond de Rothschild, sued, claiming that using the Rothschild name as a standalone brand without any initials or other indication that it was just one strand of the Rothschilds, wasn’t kosher. As she told the in March 2016, simply using “Rothschild,” is “not allowed.” Some said that family members would never have sued blood relatives, but Ariane was a Rothschild by marriage (and the only woman to ever run a Rothschild business).

After several years of negotiations, a legal settlement was reached in 2018 in which the firms agreed that “Neither group may use the name Rothschild on its own in any form whatsoever in the future.” Thus, the Anglo-French bank, for example, stopped using the domain name www.rothschild.com and changed its website to www.rothschildandco.com. Moreover, Rothschild & Co. sold its 8.4 percent stake in Edmond de Rothschild and bought back the Geneva bank’s stake in Rothschild & Co. Thus, the two firms no longer had any financial incentive to work together and would go their separate ways. (In Mayer’s day, all five banks were deeply intertwined by cross investments as well as by blood.)

These days, while the Rothschild bank can’t match a JP Morgan Chase or a Citibank in making multi-billion-dollar loans, it regularly ranks among the world’s top dozen firms advising on important mergers and acquisitions deals.

That’s a business that relies on connections, and alumni of the Paris bank have included George Pompidou, who went on to become prime minister, and the current French president, Emanuel Macron, who spent four years as a deal maker at the bank and is considered a protégé of Baron David de Rothschild. In London, Evelyn has been an advisor to the Queen while Jacob counseled

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Princess Diana. The Edmond de Rothschild Group also has an advisory business but mainly it manages some $200 billion for ultra-high net worth families, including a number of very rich Jews in Switzerland and beyond.

Jacob’s son Nat, meanwhile, has been building a new branch of the family, and he is widely expected to become the richest Rothschild. Rather than work for his father at RIT Capital Partners, Nat had a , Atticus, for a number of years, and these days he’s been involved in a series of natural resource deals, often with Russian oligarchs.

Baron Edmond de Rothschild (center) in 1961. (Photo/Wikimedia)

Nat and his father Jacob are both thought to be billionaires, but because the family fortune is divided among many cousins, few Rothschilds show up on the various rich lists. There are continuing hints of fabulous wealth: In 1988, for example, Dorothy Rothschild UK estate was the largest estate ever probated in British history. And in 2015 in France sold two Rembrandts for $180 million. But many of the cousins have their wealth tied up as shareholders

12 in various opaque Swiss and Dutch holding companies, including Rothschilds Continuation Holdings AG and Concordia BV.

Surprisingly, the Rothschilds have never gotten a big foothold in the U.S. The French and English banks jointly set up shop in the U.S. in the 1960s as the Five Arrows Group and also created Securities as a broker and asset manager. (There are five arrows on the Rothschilds coat of arms and New Court is the street address of the British bank.) All this became Rothschild & Co., in 1982 and for a time it was headed by Wilbur Ross, who would serve as President Trump’s Secretary of Commerce.

Young Rothschilds: From Santa Monica to Central Synagogue

In 2017, Rothschild Inc. opened a San Francisco office to ramp up its Silicon Valley business. But Rothschild & Co. has never gotten beyond boutique status in the U.S. Baron Edmond, meanwhile, bought Bank of California in 1976, a medium-sized commercial bank, but he sold it to the Japanese in 1984.

David Mayer de Rothschild

Despite limited business involvement in the U.S. there have always been assorted Rothschilds living here. In addition to those in New York during World War Two, Baron Guy returned to New York. A Rothschild Baroness had a 14-room apartment at 820 Fifth Avenue. And Nat had a pied-à-terre, in the West Village, that he sold for a reported $17.5 million in 2015. These days, David Mayer de Rothschild, Evelyn’s son, spends much of his time in Santa Monica.

Evelyn and his third wife Lynn Forester, have homes in Manhattan and Martha’s Vineyard. Forester is an American who was introduced to Lord Rothschild by Henry Kissinger at an elite 1998 conference in Scotland. When they got married in 2000, their friends the Clintons invited them to spend part of their honeymoon at the White House. Lady Rothschild, an entrepreneur in her own right with two grown sons in the U.S. from a previous marriage, travels frequently between the U.S. and UK. His lordship was at her side a couple of decades ago when her son had his bar mitzvah at Central Synagogue, a tony Reform temple in Manhattan. (Guests figured the kiddush luncheon was going to be pretty spiffy, but, alas, all they got was tea and babka while a convoy of limousines ferried the Rothschilds and their guests somewhere else.)

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Originally, like royalty, Rothschilds tended to marry their cousins. But in more modern times, they have branched out. Rothschild spouses from prominent Jewish families include , as well as a Sassoon, a Guggenheim, and a Warburg, and there are also links to the DuPonts and the Hiltons. In 2015 James Rothschild married Nicky Hilton, great-granddaughter of hotelier Conrad Hilton and sister of Paris Hilton.

Meanwhile, Alice Rothschild, whose mother was a member of the Guinness brewing family, married , a baron. The Goldsmith boys, are scions of another super-rich British family.

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