The banker and philanthropist Jacob Rothschild, 87, died this Monday of causes that have not been revealed. Born into a family dedicated to banking, he decided to leave the bank of his predecessors to seek his own adventure and create an entire financial empire in the City of London, the financial district where the great buildings of the Stock Exchange are located. and the Bank of England.
His family, through a statement from the Press Association, has remembered Jacob’s figure as a public servant and environmentalist. “Our father, Jacob, was an essential presence in the lives of many people, an incredibly competent financier, a standard bearer of arts and culture, a deeply devoted public servant, a passionate supporter of charitable causes in Israel and of Jewish culture. , an enthusiastic environmentalist and a very dear friend, father and grandfather.”
After beginning his career in 1963 at NM Rothschild & Sons, the family bank, Jacob (Berkshire, April 29, 1936) years later became the co-founder of J. Rothschild Assurance Group, the initial seed of the current wealth manager. St James’s Place. Among his main projects is the founding of the investment fund RIT Capital Partners, which since its inception has supported several companies.
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But Rothschild did not only dedicate his life to the world of banking, as he was also a renowned collector and patron of art. He was also a trustee of the British National Gallery, London’s main art museum, between 1985 and 1991. He was also a member of the House of Lords, the upper house of the British Parliament, from 1991 to 1999.
His passion for art led him to rehabilitate London’s Spencer House, a historic house in the Westminster area, built in the 18th century by an ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales. He also led the restoration of Waddesdon Manor, a 19th-century country house built by one of his ancestors.