Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild

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Nathaniel Charles Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild, OM, GBE, FBA (born 29 April 1936) is a British investment banker, philanthropist and a member of the prominent Rothschild family of bankers.

Contents 1 Life 2 Business and connections 3 Philanthropy 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Life

Born in 1936, he is the eldest son of Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild by his first wife Barbara Judith Rothschild née Hutchinson. Rothschild was educated at Eton College and then at Christ Church, Oxford, where he gained a First in history, tutored by Hugh Trevor-Roper.^[1]

In 1961, Rothschild married Serena Mary Dunn, a granddaughter of Canadian financier Sir James Dunn, and they have four children:

• Hannah Mary (b. 1962)
• Beth Matilda (b. 1964)
• Emily "Emmy" Magda (b. 1967)
• Nathaniel Philip Victor James (b. 1971)

From 1963 Rothschild worked for the family bank NM Rothschild and Sons in London, before resigning in 1980 due to a family dispute. The chairmanship of the bank had passed from his father, who had chosen to follow a scientific career and had lost control of the majority voting shares, to his cousin Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, and Jacob felt that his aspirations would be thwarted. He sold his minority stake in the bank, but took independent control of Rothschild Investment Trust (now RIT Capital Partners plc), an investment trust listed on the London Stock Exchange.^[2]

Lord Rothschild was appointed a member of the Order of Merit in 2002.

In the Sunday Times Rich List 2007 ranking of the wealthiest people in the UK he was placed 46th (combined with his son) with an estimated fortune of £1,300 million.^[3]

[edit] Business and connections

He is a shareholder in Rothschild Continuation Holdings, the Swiss-based holding company for the Rothschild interests which has positions in many of the family businesses, including the bank N M Rothschild & Sons. After resigning from the bank, Jacob Rothschild went on to found J. Rothschild Assurance Group (now St James's Place Capital) with Sir Mark Weinberg in 1991.^[4] In 1989, he joined forces with Sir James Goldsmith and Kerry Packer, in an unsuccessful bid for British American Tobacco. His main business interests now are RIT Capital Partners plc, an investment management company with a portfolio of £700m, of which he is Chairman,^[5] Spencer House Capital Management LLP founded with Richard Horlick (formerly CIO of Schroders), and Spencer House Partners, a "mini merchant bank" headed by Rothschild and Ronald Cohen of Apax Partners.^[6] He also retains many other venture capital and property interests. On 17 November 2003, he took up his post as deputy chairman of BSkyB.^[7] From his headquarters in St James's Place in London, Jacob Rothschild has cultivated an influential set of clients, business associates and friends who have extended his interests far beyond the normal scope of a banker. He was a close personal friend of the late Diana, Princess of Wales and maintains strong personal and business links with Henry Kissinger.^[8]

His country estate has been a regular venue for visiting heads of state including Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. Margaret Thatcher received French President François Mitterrand there at a summit in 1990. He hosted the European Economic Round Table conference in 2002, attended by such figures as James Wolfensohn, former president of the World Bank, Nicky Oppenheimer, Warren Buffett and Arnold Schwarzenegger.^[9]

[edit] Philanthropy

Lord Rothschild has played a prominent part in Arts philanthropy in Britain. He was Chairman of Trustees of the National Gallery from 1985 to 1991, and from 1992 to 1998, chairman of the National Heritage Memorial Fund. From 1994 to 1998 he was chairman of the British National Heritage Lottery Fund responsible for distributing the proceeds of the National Lottery to the heritage sector, an influential post which oversaw the distribution of £1.2 billion.

He was especially active in the project to restore Somerset House in London, for which he helped secure the Gilbert Collection and ensured the long-term future of the Courtauld Institute of Art. As a private project, he carried out the restoration of Spencer House, one of the finest surviving 18th century London townhouses, adjacent to his own offices.^[10]

In 1988, he inherited from his aunt, Dorothy de Rothschild, the Waddesdon and Eythrope estates in Buckinghamshire, and began a close association with Waddesdon Manor, the house and grounds which were bequeathed to the National Trust in 1957 by his uncle, James A. de Rothschild. He has been a major benefactor of the restoration of Waddesdon Manor through a private family charitable trust and, in an unusual arrangement, has been given authority by the National Trust to run Waddesdon Manor as a semi-independent operation. The cellars at Waddesdon Manor house his personal collection of 15,000 bottles of Rothschild wines dating as far back as 1870.

In 1993, he joined with John Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Preston Candover to set up the Butrint Foundation^[11] to record and conserve the archaeological site of Butrint in Albania, close to his holiday home on Corfu.

Lord Rothschild has also followed the Rothschild family's charitable interests in Israel and is the chairman of Yad Hanadiv, the family foundation which gave the Knesset and the Supreme Court buildings to Israel. He is also Honorary President of the Institute for Jewish Policy Research.^[12]

[edit] See also

• History of the Jews in England
• Rothschild banking family of England

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• RIT Capital Partners plc

Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Victor Rothschild	Baron Rothschild 1990–Present	Succeeded by Current Incumbent