Banking Edmond de Rothschild attended the
International School of Geneva. He studied at the
University of Geneva and at the Faculty of Law in Paris. In 1969, he established the first hedge
fund of funds. In 1961, after visiting a
Club Med vacation center in Israel, the Baron decided to settle the business debt of the company, back then on the brink of bankruptcy, and invest in its development. He owned 34% of
Club Med (around 10 million francs worth of shares) which was listed in the
Paris stock exchange in 1966. He acquired a major stake in the
Bank of California in 1973, for $22 million, establishing it as a holding company for his investments in the United States. He kept his share of the company until 1984, In 1985, he bought 45% of the French flower retailer Monceau Fleurs. His group held this share until 2001. Edmond de Rothschild invested heavily in the Tel-Aviv-based Israel General Bank, contributing to the newly created State of Israel. He later became president of this institution. After the
Six-Day War, the Baron contributed to the creation of the
Israel Corporation Investment fund when, in 1968, he was invited alongside other wealthy individuals by Israeli Finance Minister
Pinchas Sapir to the so-called Millionaire's Conference. Each guest was asked to invest $100,000 in the creation of the Corporation. He also promoted major projects in the country via the Clali Bank, another of his ventures in Israel, which he sold in 1996. and was the founder of multiple cultural and educational institutions in Israel. Edmond de Rothschild was also a major shareholder of the Italian bank
Banca Tiburtina, and minority shareholder of Banca Privata Solari & Blum in Lugano, Banque de Gestion Edmond de Rothschild in Luxembourg, and the Israel General Bank in Tel-Aviv, as well as investments in
De Beers Consolidated Mines. Being especially fond of larger racing ships, the Baron created the A Class or "
Maxi" class, a racing category comprising yachts exceeding 21 m (70 ft) in length. In 2001, his son Benjamin founded the Gitana Team of racing yachts.
Wines, hospitality, nature In 1973, Edmond de Rothschild bought
Château Clarke, a 12th-century estate in the
Médoc region. From 1974 to 1978, he remodeled the abandoned domain and created around 133 acres of vineyards. and also developed the vineyards of Peyre-Lebade and Malmaison. He also held a major stake in Savour Club, a large mail-order wine business. Two special accolades were posthumously named in his honor in 1998: the "Baron Edmond de Rothschild Prize for Young Sommeliers" awarded by the Parisian Sommeliers Association, Edmond de Rothschild inherited the
Domaine du Mont d'Arbois. In 1960, he bought the Chalet Eve. Three years later, he expanded and renovated the Palace des Neiges and bought the Gervais Chalet. In 1964, he integrated a golf course designed by British golfer Sir
Henry Cotton to the domain. In 1979, the chalet was rehabilitated as a hotel and renamed Chalet du Mont d'Arbois. Edmond de Rothschild owned a 4,000-acre land east of
Paris, acquired by his ancestors during the 18th century, where he established the farm Domaine des Trente Arpents which mainly produced the artisanal cheese
Brie de Meaux.
Philanthropy Edmond Adolphe de Rothschild gave furniture, tapestries, and paintings to the
Château de Versailles. His gifts of the 18th-century French decorative arts pieces to the
Israel Museum in Jerusalem now constitute the Rothschild Room at that institution. He bequeathed an important classical vase (
Le Don de la Vigne) to the
Musée d'Art et d'Histoire of Geneva through a donation carried out by his wife,
Nadine de Rothschild, in 1998. In France, Edmond de Rothschild supported the children's welfare association
Œuvre pour la protection des enfants juifs (OPEJ), originally founded to aid children of Jewish victims of the
Vichy-era deportations. He became its president in 1969, offering OPEJ the Château de Maubuisson north of Paris (Val d'Oise). Under his guidance, the OPEJ was opened to all children regardless of faith or family background in 1981. Nadine de Rothschild continued this work after her husband's death. The institution has been presided by members of his family ever since. Edmond de Rothschild's grandfather, Baron
Edmond James de Rothschild, had set up the acquisition of lands in
Ottoman Palestine for Jewish development in the 1800s. In the 1950s, Edmond de Rothschild donated the family's property to the new Israeli State. In 1953, he gave 7,500 acres of the town of
Caesarea to the newly created Caesarea Rothschild Foundation which was co-owned by the Israeli state. The Foundation was tasked with the redistribution of Caesarea's profits to education programs in Israel. ==Distinctions==