Rothschild causes a sensation again: the former playboy gets tough in the fight for the takeover

The Rothschild family story is rife with drama and feuds to rival Succession, the dark comedy television series about a fictional billionaire business dynasty.

The fifth Baron, better known around town as Nat Rothschild, is to some a playboy aristocrat with a daring business past and an even more colorful love life.

His favorite haunts include the clubs of Mayfair, the Mediterranean playgrounds of the mega-rich and Waddesdon, the glorious Berkshire country house built in Victorian times by his ancestors.

He upset his parents in the mid-1990s when he eloped with socialite Annabelle Neilson and embarked on a short-lived marriage.

Nat also didn’t invite her late father Jacob, who died earlier this year, to her 2016 wedding to former glamor model Loretta Basey.

To his City fans, however, he is a smart and talented corporate boss who is bringing back the golden age of deal making to the UK.

Its businesses focus on electronic cable maker Volex, which is listed on the Alternative Investment Junior Market (AIM), valued at £665m.

Volex is embroiled in a battle for control of TT Electronics, a £206 million components maker.

The question on everyone’s lips in the City is whether Nat, his father’s only son, can live up to the legacy of the revered financier and philanthropist.

So far, TT Electronics has turned its back on Nat. Despite having its own problems (the company issued a profit warning in September), it has rejected two offers from Volex in recent weeks, the second of which was worth around of £249 million.

Rothschild, 53, is unfazed. Now he’s following a line of attack straight out of the playbook familiar to anyone who’s watched HBO’s Succession.

The Rothschild banking empire was founded in Frankfurt in the 18th century. During the Victorian era, they became the richest people in the world.

As bold as his ancestors, Nat now addresses TT Electronics shareholders directly, claiming that the company’s bosses caused “a share price erosion of more than 65 percent before TT Electronics’ interest was made public.” “Volex”.

The fight has begun and it seems that Rothschild, who is said to have inherited his father’s steely determination, is more than ready for the fray.

His tough stance is drawing attention to the takeover dispute. During Rothschild’s nine years in office, Volex’s share price has soared 500 percent.

But there is also a new fascination with his career, his family and other relationships. He was once regarded as the figure who could unite the warring Rothschild clan.

But he became so deeply estranged from his father that he did not attend the patriarch’s memorial service held in Waddesdon. The Rothschild Foundation manages this magnificent property on behalf of the National Trust.

Following Jacob’s death in 2024, his daughter Hannah, Nat’s older sister, took over as president. He is also on the board of directors of RIT Capital Partners, the investment trust that manages a portion of the family’s assets.

Both posts seem to have naturally belonged to Nat, meaning there’s a sense of “what if” about his life.

There is no hint of such feeling in the face he presents to the world.

In his X profile, he writes that he is “interested in public affairs, the underdog, farming, the countryside, and happily married to Loretta.” Basey, ex-girlfriend of actor Steve Coogan, is famous for having appeared on page three of The Sun.

First wife Annabelle Neilson, muse of designer Alexander McQueen, died in 2018.

Rothschild supports Chelsea and is successful on the ski slopes, which is not surprising since he lives in Switzerland, in the elite resort of Klosters.

His proclaimed marital bliss is a far cry from his period of fame in the 1990s, when his business dealings were as fast-paced as his courtships with women.

He was often at the center of controversy. Its first foray into the Indonesian energy market failed spectacularly. Rothschild co-founded the Bumi group in 2010 with Indonesia’s powerful Bakrie family.

A bitter boardroom revolt followed and Bumi collapsed in 2012 amid financial irregularities, scandals and recriminations. But the uproar surrounding this incident was much less than that of the other episode that splashed the Rothschild names in the press.

At Colet Court, the preparatory school for St Paul’s School, Rothschild became friends with the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne.

While in Oxford, the couple were photographed together wearing their morning coats and other insignia from the infamous Bullingdon Club. The friendship, however, fell apart in October 2008, when Nat hosted a party on the Greek island of Corfu.

Among the guests were Peter Mandelson, then secretary of state, and Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska, with whom Rothschild had ties based on plans for developments in Montenegro.

Also at the party was Osborne, shadow chancellor at the time. Rothschild would later incorrectly allege that Osborne attempted to solicit a donation from Deripaska to the Conservative Party.

Until recently, Rothschild’s X profile photo was that of a venerable old man taken by the 18th-century British painter Joseph Wright. The connection is unclear: Rothschild, perhaps, likes to keep people guessing.

However, one thing is certain. After his return to the public stage, he is a tycoon to follow closely.