Evelyn Robert de Rothschild
Encyclopedia
Sir Evelyn Robert Adrian de Rothschild (born 29 August 1931) is a British
financier
, and a member of the Rothschild family
.
(1887–1961) and Yvonne Cahen d'Anvers (1899–1977), he was named after his uncle Evelyn Achille de Rothschild
who was killed in action in World War I
. Evelyn de Rothschild spent several of his boyhood years in the United States
during World War II
. He was a pupil at Harrow School
and then studied history at Trinity College
of Cambridge University but he dropped out before obtaining his degree.
Born into great wealth, Evelyn de Rothschild became one of England's most eligible bachelors, spending his youth travelling, socialising, driving exotic sports cars, enjoying thoroughbred horse racing
and playing polo
. It was not until age twenty-six that he decided to join N M Rothschild & Sons
banking house to be trained in the family's business. In 1955 his father fell ill and retired. His cousin Victor Rothschild
took over as Chairman.
-based de Rothschild Frères while Guy de Rothschild
from the French branch
of the family became a partner at N M Rothschild & Sons. In 1976 he took over as bank chairman from Victor Rothschild
and in 1982 became chairman of Rothschilds Continuation Holdings AG, the co-ordinating company for the merchant banking group. He became co-chairman of Rothschild Bank A.G., Zurich in 1994, serving until 2003 when he oversaw the merger of the family's French and UK houses. David René de Rothschild
of the French branch took over as executive chairman of Rothschild International after the different branches had been merged and Sir Evelyn continued as non-executive chairman of N M Rothschild & Sons. In 2003, he founded with his wife, Lynn Forester de Rothschild, a holding company, E.L. Rothschild, to manage their investments in The Economist
and various enterprises in India
.
Throughout his career, Evelyn de Rothschild has been actively involved in a number of other organisations in both the private and public sectors and has held the following business positions:
Evelyn de Rothschild also served as a Director of the newspaper
group owned by Lord Beaverbrook
. Years later, he served for a time as a Director of Lord Black's
Daily Telegraph
newspaper. An owner of thoroughbred
racehorses, he is a former chairman of United Racecourses. In 1967 Sir Evelyn created the Eranda Foundation to support social welfare, promote the arts and to encourage research into medicine and education.
In 1989 he was knighted by HM Queen Elizabeth II
, for whom he serves as a financial adviser. He has been a Governor of the London School of Economics and Political Science
as well as an active patron of the arts and supporter of a number of charities. He served as Chairman of the Delegacy of St Mary's Hospital Medical School
from 1977 to 1988. He has been a Member of the Council of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
, a trustee of the Shakespeare Globe Trust
, and in 1998 was appointed Chairman of The Princess Royal Trust for Carers
. Sir Evelyn was the founding chairman in 1990 of The European Association for Banking and Financial History
in Frankfurt
, Germany
, a position he held until retiring in 2004.
, the jet-engine engineer. The marriage ended in divorce in 1971.
He married a second time in 1973 to Victoria Lou Schott (b. 1949), they were divorced in 2000. They have three children:
On 30 November 2000, Sir Evelyn married the American
lawyer and entrepreneur Lynn Forester
, who was the head of the Luxembourg
-based wireless broadband venture FirstMark Communications Europe and the former wife of Andrew Stein
, a New York City political figure who served as the last president of the New York City Council
. By this marriage, he has two stepchildren, Benjamin Forester Stein (b. 1985) and John Forester Stein (b. 1988). On the announcement of the marriage, the de Rothschild couple were invited to spend their honeymoon at the White House
, where they agreed to stay one night.
Sir Evelyn's family homes include Ascott House
, a country estate owned by the National Trust
in Buckinghamshire
about 46 miles north of London.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
financier
Financier
Financier is a term for a person who handles typically large sums of money, usually involving money lending, financing projects, large-scale investing, or large-scale money management. The term is French, and derives from finance or payment...
, and a member of the Rothschild family
Rothschild family
The Rothschild family , known as The House of Rothschild, or more simply as the Rothschilds, is a Jewish-German family that established European banking and finance houses starting in the late 18th century...
.
Early life
The son of Anthony Gustav de RothschildAnthony Gustav de Rothschild
Anthony Gustav de Rothschild was a British banker and member of the Rothschild banking family. Born in London, England, he was the third and youngest of the three sons of Leopold de Rothschild and Marie Perugia...
(1887–1961) and Yvonne Cahen d'Anvers (1899–1977), he was named after his uncle Evelyn Achille de Rothschild
Evelyn Achille de Rothschild
Evelyn Achille de Rothschild Evelyn Achille de Rothschild (B.A.) Evelyn Achille de Rothschild (B.A.) (January 6, 1886 - November 17, 1917 was a British banker and soldier. Born in London, England, he was the second of three sons of Leopold de Rothschild (1845–1917) and Marie Perugia (1862–1937)...
who was killed in action in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Evelyn de Rothschild spent several of his boyhood years in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He was a pupil at Harrow School
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
and then studied history at Trinity College
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
of Cambridge University but he dropped out before obtaining his degree.
Born into great wealth, Evelyn de Rothschild became one of England's most eligible bachelors, spending his youth travelling, socialising, driving exotic sports cars, enjoying thoroughbred horse racing
Thoroughbred horse race
Thoroughbred horse racing is a worldwide sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport: Flat racing and National Hunt racing...
and playing polo
Polo
Polo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Sometimes called, "The Sport of Kings", it was highly popularized by the British. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal using a...
. It was not until age twenty-six that he decided to join N M Rothschild & Sons
N M Rothschild & Sons
N M Rothschild & Sons is a private investment banking company, belonging to the Rothschild family...
banking house to be trained in the family's business. In 1955 his father fell ill and retired. His cousin Victor Rothschild
Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild
Nathaniel Mayer Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild, GBE, GM, FRS was a biologist by training, a cricketer and a member of the prominent Rothschild family...
took over as Chairman.
Career
In 1968, Evelyn de Rothschild was appointed a director of ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
-based de Rothschild Frères while Guy de Rothschild
Guy de Rothschild
Baron Guy Édouard Alphonse Paul de Rothschild was a French banker and member of the Rothschild family. He chaired the bank Rothschild Frères from 1967 to 1979, when it was nationalized by the French government, and maintained possessions in other French and foreign companies including Imerys...
from the French branch
Rothschild banking family of France
The Rothschild banking family of France was founded in 1812 in Paris by James Mayer Rothschild . James was sent there from his home in Frankfurt, Germany by his father, Mayer Amschel Rothschild...
of the family became a partner at N M Rothschild & Sons. In 1976 he took over as bank chairman from Victor Rothschild
Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild
Nathaniel Mayer Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild, GBE, GM, FRS was a biologist by training, a cricketer and a member of the prominent Rothschild family...
and in 1982 became chairman of Rothschilds Continuation Holdings AG, the co-ordinating company for the merchant banking group. He became co-chairman of Rothschild Bank A.G., Zurich in 1994, serving until 2003 when he oversaw the merger of the family's French and UK houses. David René de Rothschild
David René de Rothschild
David René James de Rothschild is a banker and a member of the French branch of the Rothschild family. He is the chairman of Rothschilds Continuation Holdings, a Swiss holding company...
of the French branch took over as executive chairman of Rothschild International after the different branches had been merged and Sir Evelyn continued as non-executive chairman of N M Rothschild & Sons. In 2003, he founded with his wife, Lynn Forester de Rothschild, a holding company, E.L. Rothschild, to manage their investments in The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
and various enterprises in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
Throughout his career, Evelyn de Rothschild has been actively involved in a number of other organisations in both the private and public sectors and has held the following business positions:
- Chairman - The EconomistThe EconomistThe Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
(1972–1989) - Chairman - British Merchant Banking & Securities House Association (1985–1989)
- Deputy Chairman - Milton Keynes Development CorporationMilton Keynes Development CorporationMilton Keynes Development Corporation was established on 23 January 1967 to provide the vision and execution of a "new city", Milton Keynes, that would be the modern interpretation of the Garden city movement concepts first expressed by Ebenezer Howard 60 years earlier...
(1971–1984) - Chairman - United Racecourses (1977–1994)
- Director - De Beers Consolidated MinesDe BeersDe Beers is a family of companies that dominate the diamond, diamond mining, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. De Beers is active in every category of industrial diamond mining: open-pit, underground, large-scale alluvial, coastal and deep sea...
(1977–1994) - Director - IBM United Kingdom Holdings LimitedIBMInternational Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
(1972–1995)
Evelyn de Rothschild also served as a Director of the newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
group owned by Lord Beaverbrook
Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook
William Maxwell "Max" Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, Bt, PC, was a Canadian-British business tycoon, politician, and writer.-Early career in Canada:...
. Years later, he served for a time as a Director of Lord Black's
Conrad Black
Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour, OC, KCSG, PC is a Canadian-born member of the British House of Lords, and a historian, columnist and publisher, who was for a time the third largest newspaper magnate in the world. Lord Black controlled Hollinger International, Inc...
Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
newspaper. An owner of thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
racehorses, he is a former chairman of United Racecourses. In 1967 Sir Evelyn created the Eranda Foundation to support social welfare, promote the arts and to encourage research into medicine and education.
In 1989 he was knighted by HM Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
, for whom he serves as a financial adviser. He has been a Governor of the London School of Economics and Political Science
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
as well as an active patron of the arts and supporter of a number of charities. He served as Chairman of the Delegacy of St Mary's Hospital Medical School
St Mary's Hospital Medical School
St Mary's is the youngest of the constituent schools of Imperial College, London, founded in 1854 as part of the new hospital in Paddington. During its existence in the 1980s and 90s, it was the most popular medical school in the country, with an application to place ratio of 27:1 in 1996.St Mary's...
from 1977 to 1988. He has been a Member of the Council of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
, a trustee of the Shakespeare Globe Trust
Globe Theatre
The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613...
, and in 1998 was appointed Chairman of The Princess Royal Trust for Carers
The Princess Royal Trust for Carers
The Princess Royal Trust for Carers was created on the initiative of HRH The Princess Royal in 1991. At that time people caring at home for family members or friends with disabilities and chronic illnesses were scarcely recognised as requiring support....
. Sir Evelyn was the founding chairman in 1990 of The European Association for Banking and Financial History
The European Association for Banking and Financial History
The European Association for Banking History e.V. was founded in 1990 in Frankfurt, Germany by Professor Manfred Pohl, as a forum for research into the history of banking, insurance and finance...
in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, a position he held until retiring in 2004.
Personal life
In 1966 Evelyn de Rothschild married Jeannette Bishop (1940–1981), a niece of Sir Stanley HookerStanley Hooker
Sir Stanley George Hooker was a jet engine engineer, first at Rolls-Royce where he worked on the earliest designs such as the Welland and Derwent, and later at Bristol Aero Engines where he helped bring the troubled Proteus and Olympus to market, and then designed the famous Pegasus.Stanley George...
, the jet-engine engineer. The marriage ended in divorce in 1971.
He married a second time in 1973 to Victoria Lou Schott (b. 1949), they were divorced in 2000. They have three children:
- Jessica (b. 1974)
- Anthony JamesAnthony James de RothschildAnthony James de Rothschild is Co-managing Director of Brighton based A7 music and a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family of England....
(b. 1977) - David MayerDavid Mayer de RothschildDavid Mayer de Rothschild is a British adventurer, ecologist, and environmentalist and head of Adventure Ecology, an expedition group raising awareness about climate change. He is a member of the Rothschild family, the youngest of three children of Victoria Schott and Sir Evelyn de Rothschild of...
(b. 1978)
On 30 November 2000, Sir Evelyn married the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lawyer and entrepreneur Lynn Forester
Lynn Forester de Rothschild
Lynn Forester, Lady de Rothschild is the chief executive officer of E.L. Rothschild, a holding company she owns with her third husband, Sir Evelyn Robert de Rothschild, a member of the Rothschild family...
, who was the head of the Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
-based wireless broadband venture FirstMark Communications Europe and the former wife of Andrew Stein
Andrew Stein
Andrew Stein was a Democratic politician who served on the New York City Council and was its last President, and as Manhattan Borough President. Stein's father is Jerry Finkelstein, the retired multi-millionaire publisher of the New York Law Journal, among other publications...
, a New York City political figure who served as the last president of the New York City Council
New York City Council
The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of the City of New York. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The Council serves as a check against the mayor in a "strong" mayor-council government model. The council monitors performance of city agencies and...
. By this marriage, he has two stepchildren, Benjamin Forester Stein (b. 1985) and John Forester Stein (b. 1988). On the announcement of the marriage, the de Rothschild couple were invited to spend their honeymoon at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
, where they agreed to stay one night.
Sir Evelyn's family homes include Ascott House
Ascott House
Ascott House, sometimes referred to as simply Ascott, is situated in the hamlet of Ascott near Wing in Buckinghamshire, England. It is set in a estate....
, a country estate owned by the National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
in Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
about 46 miles north of London.
External links
- Interview with Sir Evelyn de Rothschild at financialexpress.com (2008)
- "Can't Buy Me Love" at Forbes (2001)
- Interview with Lady de Rothschild at Condé Nast Portfolio.com (2007)