The death of Jacob Rothschild yesterday at age 87 could result in a succession-style battle between his heirs over his extensive real estate and investment empire.
A colossal figure in the City, he walked the Square Mile for several decades.
He started at family banking group NM Rothschild in 1963, and left 17 years later after falling out with his cousin Sir Evelyn de Rothschild over a merger with rival SG Warburg.
At the time, it was the talk of the town. One financial journalist described it as “the most egregious division between banks and families in the history of the City of London”.
Acting alone, he took over RIT Capital Partners, which is worth £2.6bn and a FTSE 250 stalwart.
Legacy: Jacob Rothschild (pictured), who died yesterday at the age of 87, was a colossal figure in the city who walked the Square Mile for several decades.
His business skills and natural charm saw the business grow rapidly, while his comments on the market were highly anticipated, such as when in 2019 he described the post-Brexit stalemate as the UK’s biggest political challenge since the Suez crisis. of 1956.
While doing all this, he also co-founded wealth manager St James’s Place in 1991, money manager GAM in 1983 and in 1989 made an unsuccessful bid for British American Tobacco which, had it gone ahead, would have been one of the biggest gains. -overs of all time.
A source close to the family said: ‘He was seen as an establishment figure. As far as business goes, he was far from it. He took many risks.
To this day, RIT Capital remains one of London’s most popular trusts with offices in Spencer House overlooking Green Park.
Its investments are varied and include WeBull, the New York investment platform, and Motive, the logistics group.
In the UK, the firm backs technology investor First Minute Capital. The 10.7 per cent annual return remains impressive to this day and RIT has turned a £10,000 investment in 1988 into £345,000 in 2024.
But the big question is who will take Rothchild’s place and what will happen to his 13% stake in the business.
For the Rothschilds, leadership succession is treated like accession to the throne in a monarchy, not unlike the fictional Roy family in the popular television series Succession.
It is an obsession that has allowed them to keep their name alive while other traditional families in the city, such as the Kleinworts and the Warburgs, have disappeared.
For many years, Nat, 52, appeared to be the natural successor, “a chip off the old block” who moved effortlessly through the world of high finance. But his father didn’t like her playboy lifestyle and his rebellious streak.
Born in 1971, he is the youngest child and, as the only male child, is the forced heir. But he doesn’t have a direct stake in RIT Capital, but rather an indirect stake through the family’s private equity firm Five Arrows.
He upset his parents in 1995 when he eloped with socialite Annabelle Neilson, but the marriage lasted only three years.
Relations with his family became strained and, in 2016, Nat refused to invite his father to his second wedding to former glamor model Loretta Basey.
It has since rebuilt its name with Volex, a maker of cables for Tesla.
But it is her sister Hannah, 61, an author and Jacob’s eldest daughter, who emerges as the favourite.
Known for her smart and calm head, she has a 10 percent stake in RIT and serves on the board of directors as a non-executive director.
A divorced mother of three children, she is also president of Yad Hanadiv, the Rothschild charitable foundation in Israel.
Whether Hannah or Nat wins, they will both have big shoes to fill.
