The death of British banking tycoon Jacob Rothschild could trigger a “Succession”-style battle between his heirs for his vast real estate and investment empire.
Lord Rothschild, who died Monday at age 87, founded London-based RIT Capital Management in 1961, which remains one of the UK’s largest investment trusts and was the head of the British wing of the fabled banking dynasty that dates back to the 18th Century.
With a family fortune estimated at $1 billion, according to The Sunday Times’ 2023 Rich List, naming the next Rothschild leader is being treated as seriously as the accession to the throne in a monarchy, according to This is Money.
Rothschild, who was said to have advised Queen Elizabeth II on financial matters, had four children with his wife of more than 50 years, Serena Mary Dunn, who died in 2019.
The youngest of those children, and only son, is 52-year-old Nathaniel “Nat” Rothschild, who was seen as the obvious next-in-line to the throne, the UK publication This is Monday reported.
Like his father, Nat was known for moving effortlessly in the world of high finance, per This is Money, having led investment advisory firm JNR Limited, coal-production giant Bumi Plc and Wall Street hedge fund Atticus Capital before it shuttered in 2009.
However, the elder Rothschild was known to have a distaste for his heir apparent’s playboy lifestyle and rebellious streak, including when he eloped with socialite Annabelle Neilson in 1994 in Las Vegas.
Family tensions were strained over the marriage, which only lasted three years.
Nat, who now lives in Switzerland, then infamously refused to invite his father to his second wedding to model Loretta Basey in 2016.
At that point, Nat was already building a name for himself at Volex, a manufacturer for Tesla, He’s been Volex’s executive chairman since 2015, according to This is Money.
Nat does not have a direct stake in RIT Capital Management, but instead holds an indirect holding through the family’s private equity firm, Five Arrows, This is Money reported.
His older sister, 61-year-old Hannah, has recently emerged as a frontrunner to take the crown.
Unlike her brother, Hannah has a 10% stake in RIT Capital and sits on the board as a non-executive director.
RIT Capital has already said that it “is proud that its association with Lord Rothschild’s family interests continues via his daughter, Hannah Rothschild, who has served as a Director of RIT for over a decade.”
“The majority of the beneficial and non-beneficial interests relating to the Rothschild family are in respect of shares held via trusts, companies or charitable foundations where Hannah is a beneficiary, trustee, or is able to exert significant influence,” the firm added in a statement.
Hannah — the author of several books, including “The Probability of Love” and a biography about her great aunt, Pannonica — also chairs Yad Hanadiv, the Rothschild family’s philanthropic foundation in Israel, per This is Money.
Their other siblings — Beth, 60, and Emily, 56 — have stayed out of the public light and shied away from taking major roles in Rothschild institutions.
Aside from the Rothschild children, there are multiple other prominent members of the family whose named have been floated during succession talks.
Among those is Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, who was married to their cousin Sir Evelyn de Rothschild from 2000 until his death in 2022.
Lynn — who has thrown funds behind Hillary Clinton and John McCain — is the founder and CEO of investment company EL Rothschild, whose current holdings include The Economist.
Baroness Nadine de Rothschild, 91, could also be an heir. Back in 1997, the former actress was thought to be the richest member of the family, according a Washington Post story at the time, when her husband, Edmond de Rothschild, died of emphysema.
Another candidate is Ariane de Rothschild, 58, who became the first woman to run a Rothschild bank when she rose to the CEO position of Edmond de Rothschild Group in 2023, the Financial Times reported.
Ariane was married to Edmond and Nadine Rothchild’s son, Benjamin, from 1999 until his death from a heart attack in 2021 at age 57.
The Rothschild dynasty was started by Mayer Amschel Rothschild in Frankfurt, Germany, in the late 1700s before branching off to several cities in Europe.
His son, Nathan Mayer Rothschild, made his fortune in 1815 by buying British government bonds in anticipation of Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo.
