Head of British Rothschild family dies

Lord Jacob Rothschild, a financier and member of the Rothschild banking dynasty, has died at the age of 87, his family announced on Monday, according to media reports.

The British peer, who was also well-known in the arts and chaired the National Heritage Memorial Fund, started his career in the family bank, NM Rothschild & Sons, in 1963. He later went on to co-found J Rothschild Assurance Group, now called St James’s Place, with Sir Mark Weinberg in 1980. Lord Rothschild also founded Windmill Hill Asset Management to manage the family’s philanthropic portfolio.

In a statement to the news agency PA, the Rothschild family said: “Our father Jacob was a towering presence in many people’s lives, a superbly accomplished financier, a champion of the arts and culture, a devoted public servant, a passionate supporter of charitable causes in Israel and Jewish culture, a keen environmentalist and much-loved friend, father and grandfather.

“He will be buried in accordance with Jewish custom in a small family ceremony and there will be a memorial at a later date to celebrate his life.”

Lord Rothschild was awarded the Order of Merit by Queen Elizabeth II in 2002, and received the Prince of Wales Medal for Arts Philanthropy in 2013.

He was married for more than 50 years to the granddaughter of a Canadian financier, Serena Mary Dunn, who died in 2019 and with whom he had four children.

Lord Rothschild’s family has an estimated fortune of around £825 million (over $1 billion), according to last year’s Sunday Times Rich List.

The Rothschild family emerged from the Jewish ghetto in Frankfurt in the 19th century to become one of the world’s richest and most powerful financial dynasties that bankrolled wars and empires, and helped shape Europe’s economic and political history.  

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