English branch in
Waddesdon, Buckinghamshire, England, donated to the National Trust by the family in 1957 The Rothschild banking family of England was founded in 1798 by
Nathan Mayer Rothschild (1777–1836), who first settled in
Manchester but then moved to London. Nathan Mayer von Rothschild, the third son of
Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744–1812), first established a textile jobbing business in Manchester and from there went on to establish
N M Rothschild & Sons bank in London. During the early part of the 19th century, the Rothschild family's London bank took a leading part in managing and financing the subsidies that the British government transferred to its allies during the
Napoleonic Wars. Through the creation of a network of agents, couriers and shippers, the bank was able to provide funds to the armies of the
Duke of Wellington in Portugal and Spain, therefore funding the war. The providing of other innovative and complex financing for government projects formed a mainstay of the bank's business for the better part of the century. N M Rothschild & Sons' financial strength in the
City of London became such that, by 1825–26, the bank was able to supply enough coin to the
Bank of England to enable it to avert a
liquidity crisis. , one of the many Rothschild mansions built in
Buckinghamshire Nathan Mayer's eldest son,
Lionel de Rothschild (1808–1879), succeeded him as head of the London branch. Under Lionel, the bank financed the British government's 1875 purchase of
Egypt's interest in the
Suez Canal. The Rothschild bank also funded
Cecil Rhodes in the development of the
British South Africa Company.
Leopold de Rothschild (1845–1917) administered Rhodes's estate after his death in 1902 and helped to set up the
Rhodes Scholarship scheme at the
University of Oxford. In 1873,
de Rothschild Frères in France and N M Rothschild & Sons of London joined with other investors to acquire the Spanish government's money-losing
Rio Tinto copper mines. The new owners restructured the company and turned it into a profitable business. By 1905, the Rothschild interest in Rio Tinto amounted to more than 30 percent. In 1887, the French and British Rothschild banking houses loaned money to, and invested in, the
De Beers diamond mines in South Africa, becoming its largest shareholders. The London banking house continued under the management of
Lionel Nathan de Rothschild (1882–1942) and his brother
Anthony Gustav de Rothschild (1887–1961), and then to
Sir Evelyn de Rothschild (1931–2022). In 2003, following Sir Evelyn's retirement as head of N M Rothschild & Sons of London, the British and French financial firms merged under the leadership of
David René de Rothschild.
French branches , the largest château of the 19th century, was built in 1854. It is set on a estate outside Paris. It was charitably donated by the family to the University of Paris in 1975. There are two branches of the family connected to France. The first was the branch of
James Mayer de Rothschild (1792–1868), known as "James", who established
de Rothschild Frères in Paris; he married his niece
Betty von Rothschild. Following the Napoleonic Wars, he played a major role in financing the construction of railways and the mining business that helped make France an industrial power. By 1980, the Paris business employed about 2,000 people and had an annual turnover of 26 billion francs (€4.13 billion or $5 billion in the currency rates of 1980). The Paris business suffered a near death blow in 1982, when the socialist government of
François Mitterrand nationalised and renamed it as Compagnie Européenne de Banque. Baron
David de Rothschild, then 39, decided to stay and rebuild, creating a new entity named
Rothschild & Cie Banque, with just three employees and €830,000 (US$1 million) in capital. In the 21st century, the Paris operation has 22 partners and accounts for a significant part of the global business. Ensuing generations of the Paris Rothschild family remained involved in the family business, becoming a major force in international investment banking. The Paris Rothschilds have since led the
Thomson Financial League Tables in Investment Banking Merger and Acquisition deals in the UK, France and Italy. by the secondary branch of the French Rothschild family, today it houses the headquarters of the
OECD.
James Mayer de Rothschild's other son,
Edmond James de Rothschild (1845–1934), was very much engaged in philanthropy and the arts, and he was a leading proponent of
Zionism. His grandson, Baron
Edmond Adolphe de Rothschild, founded in 1953 the
LCF Rothschild Group, a private bank. Since 1997, Baron
Benjamin de Rothschild chairs the group. The group has €100bn of assets in 2008 and owns many wine properties in France (
Château Clarke,
Château des Laurets), in Australia, or in South Africa. In 1961, the 35-year-old
Edmond Adolphe de Rothschild purchased the company
Club Med, after he had visited a resort and enjoyed his stay. His interest in Club Med was sold off by the 1990s. In 1973, he bought out the
Bank of California, selling his interests in 1984 before it was sold to
Mitsubishi Bank in 1985. , built in 1872 as a Paris townhouse for
Salomon James de Rothschild The second French branch was founded by
Nathaniel de Rothschild (1812–1870). Born in London, he was the fourth child of the founder of the British branch of the family,
Nathan Mayer Rothschild (1777–1836). In 1850, Nathaniel Rothschild moved to Paris to work with his uncle James Mayer Rothschild. In 1853, Nathaniel acquired Château Brane Mouton, a vineyard in
Pauillac in the
Gironde département. Nathaniel Rothschild renamed the estate
Château Mouton Rothschild, and it would become one of the best known labels in the world. In 1868, Nathaniel's uncle, James Mayer de Rothschild, acquired the neighbouring
Château Lafite vineyard.
Austrian branch in Vienna. In
Vienna,
Salomon Mayer Rothschild established a bank in the 1820s and the Austrian family had vast wealth and position. During the 19th century, their main business rivals were the
Macedo-Romanian Sina family. The crash of 1929 brought problems, and
Baron Louis von Schwartz Rothschild attempted to shore up the
Creditanstalt, Austria's largest bank, to prevent its collapse. Nevertheless, during the
Second World War they had to surrender their bank to the
Nazis and flee the country. Their
Rothschild palaces, a collection of vast palaces in Vienna built and owned by the family, were confiscated, plundered and destroyed by the Nazis. The palaces were famous for their sheer size and for their huge collections of paintings,
armour,
tapestries and
statues (some of which were restored to the Rothschilds by the Austrian government in 1999). All family members escaped the
Holocaust, some of them moving to the United States, and returning to Europe only after the war. In 1999, the government of Austria agreed to return to the Rothschild family some 250 art treasures looted by the Nazis and absorbed into state museums after the war.
Neapolitan branch , Naples, with views onto
Mount Vesuvius The
C M de Rothschild & Figli bank arranged substantial loans to the
Papal States and to various Kings of Naples plus the Duchy of Parma and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. However, in the 1830s, Naples followed Spain with a gradual shift away from conventional bond issues that began to affect the bank's growth and profitability. The
Unification of Italy in 1861, with the ensuing decline of the Italian aristocracy who had been the Rothschilds' primary clients, eventually brought about the closure of their Naples bank, due to a forecasted decline in the sustainability of the business over the long-term. However, in the early 19th century, the Rothschild family of Naples built up close relations with the
Holy See, and the association between the family and the Vatican continued into the 20th century. In 1832, when
Pope Gregory XVI was seen meeting Carl von Rothschild to arrange the
1832 Rothschild loan to the Holy See (for £400,000, worth €43,000,000 in 2014), observers were shocked that Rothschild was not required to kiss the Pope's feet, as was then required for all other visitors to the Pope, including monarchs. The 1906
Jewish Encyclopedia described the Rothschilds as "the guardians of the papal treasure". == Jewish identity and positions on Zionism ==