Jacob Rothschild Net Worth & Biography

Jacob Rothschild Net Worth & Biography

Born in London and educated at Eton and Oxford, Jacob Rothschild is a British investment banker and public figure. He joined the family bank, N.M. Rothschild after his education in 1964 and revived its fortunes by his dynamism. However, he left the establishment in 1980 after conflict with the bank’s administrator, his cousin Evelyn de Rothschild, over his management of Rothschild Investment Trust. A series of mergers which Jacob subsequently masterminded resulted in the creation of the prominent financial establishment Charterhouse J. Rothschild.

From 1971 Jacob served as chairman of St. James’s Place Capital (renamed from J. Rothschild Holdings plc.) and from 1980, occupied the position of the chairman of Five Arrows Ltd. His activity in public life centered on culture and the arts. From 1985 to 1991, Jacob served as the National Gallery’s board of trustees’ chairperson and in 1992–98 he served the new National Heritage Memorial Fund’s board of trustees as its chair. Jacob sat as an independent in the House of Lords. In 1990, he succeeded his late father as fourth Baron Rothschild. He was actively involved in the revitalization of Somerset House, London, as a prominent art gallery, and received several awards and honorary degrees from countries in Europe and America.

Early Life: Childhood, Education

The fourth Baron Nathaniel Charles Jacob Rothschild was born in Berkshire, England on April 29, 1936. As the son of third Baron Rothschild, Victor Rothschild, he comes from the world-famous Rothschild family, a Jewish clan that traces its ancestry to Frankfurt, Germany. Over time, the family invented an international banking system that expanded across the biggest cities of Europe, including London and Vienna. At a point, the Rothschild family was the wealthiest family in the whole world and owned the largest private wealth on the planet. They became especially wealthy and powerful after the downfall of Napoleon, although in this modern age, the family is significantly less influential and wealthy than they used to be.

Regarding his education, as a child, Jacob attended the boarding school Eton College. He enrolled in Christ Church at the University of Oxford and eventually earned First Class Honors upon his graduation with his bachelor’s degree in history.

Professional Life: Banking & Business Career

His business career started in 1963 when he was 27 years old. After completing his education, Jacob joined the family-run bank N M Rothschild & Sons in London. He maintained his position until his sudden resignation in 1980. His father had the opportunity to serve as the bank’s chairman but rather pursued a career in science instead. The meaning of this was that he lost control of the company. Because Jacob had the idea that he would never reach his full potential in a company run by his cousin Sir Evelyn Robert who became the chairman of the bank, he sold off his minority stake in the business and moved on to take control of Rothschild Investment Trust, and later founded the wealth management business Rothschild Assurance Group in 1991.

Perhaps the most notable role of the fourth baron in the business world is his role as Chairman of RIT Capital Partners plc. RIT is a company that is known to be one of the top investment firms on the London Stock Exchange and has an estimated value of roughly 2 billion pounds. In addition, he headed a number of subsidiary businesses under the umbrella of RIT Capital Partners.

Jacob Rothschild became the Deputy Chairman of BSkyB TV in 2003, and also got involved with Russian oil deals during this period, famously acquiring shares in the YUKOS oil company before the arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Furthermore, Jacob acquired a 5 percent interest stake in Genie Energy, an oil firm that had obtained exclusive oil rights in the Golan Heights area. His shares were valued at $10 million at the time.

The baron developed close connections with some of the world’s most influential people during his business career. These included French President Francois Mitterand, American actor and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger, Warren Buffet, Margaret Thatcher, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Henry Kissinger, and many more. He retired from his career in 2008.

Achievements: Awards & Honors

• Member of the Order of Merit (OM) in the United Kingdom – 2002
• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) – 1998
• Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in the United Kingdom – 2020
• The Prince of Wales Medal for Arts Philanthropy – 2013
• Honorary Fellow of the British Academy (Hon FBA) – 1998
• Senior Fellow of the Royal College of Art (FRCA) in the United Kingdom – 1992
• Honorary Fellow of King’s College London (Hon FKC) – 2002
• Apollo Personality of the Year – 2002
• Honorary President of the Institute for Jewish Policy – 2002
• Mont Blanc Award – 2004
• Tercentenary Medal for St Petersburg – 2005
• Honorary Student of Christ Church, Oxford – March 2006
• The Hadrian Award from the World Monuments Fund in the United States – 1995
• The Classical America – Arthur Ross Award – 1998
• The Iris Foundation Award – the BARD Institute – 1999
• The Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement – 2000
• The Centennial Medal of the American Academy in Rome – 2002
• The Kennedy Center’s International Committee Lifetime Achievement Gold Medal in the Arts Award – 2006
• Royal Oak Foundation Timeless Design Award – 2009
• The J. Paul Getty Medal – 2014
• Commander of the Order of Henry the Navigator in Portugal – 1985
• Europa Nostra Medal of Honor in Brussels – 2003
• Freedom of the City of Saranda in Albania – 2003
• Honoree of the Gennadius Library Trustees Award – 2010
• National Flag Order in Albania – 2014
• The Sir Winston Churchill Award – 2004
• The Weizmann Award

Rothschild has been awarded honorary degrees from the universities of Warwick, Newcastle Exeter, Keele, London, and Oxford, and also from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has also been awarded honorary fellowships from the Commonwealth Jewish Council Award, the Israel Museum, and City of Jerusalem. To also mention, he was appointed the president of the Institute of Jewish Affairs in 1992.

Personal Life: Relationships, Marriages, Children

The Baron married Serena Mary Dunn in 1961. She is a descendant of a renowned Canadian financier. Over the course of their marital union, they had four children together before Serena’s passing in 2019.

Jacob Rothschild Net Worth: Income Sources, Assets

Nathaniel Charles Jacob Rothschild is best-known as a member of the historic Rothschild family. Though he has made several investments throughout his lifetime, not much of his accomplishments have been made public due to the nature of his status in the society.

Jacob Rothschild’s net worth stands at the sum of $5 billion today. One can see from the above report that this man is a great icon in the world, as evidenced by his litany of awards and honorary recognitions.