Benjamin de Rothschild (30 July 1963 – 15 January 2021) was a French
banker
A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...
, the owner of the
Edmond de Rothschild Group from 1997 until his death in 2021. He was the son of
Edmond Adolphe and
Nadine de Rothschild. He was married to
Ariane de Rothschild. In 2001, he created the professional offshore sailing racing team Gitana Team.
In 2021, ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'' estimated his fortune was worth $1.4 billion.
Family
Benjamin de Rothschild was a seventh-generation descendant of the dynasty founder
Mayer Amschel.
He was the great-grandson of
Edmond James de Rothschild and
Adelheid von Rothschild, the grandson of
Maurice de Rothschild and
Noémie Halphen, and the only child of
Edmond Adolphe and
Nadine (née Lhopitalier) de Rothschild. His father was from a Jewish family and his mother
converted to Judaism
Conversion to Judaism ( or ) is the process by which non-Jews adopt the Jewish religion and become members of the Jewish ethnoreligious community. It thus resembles both conversion to other religions and naturalization. "Thus, by convertin ...
. He was also the great-great-great-grandson of Sephardi-Jew of
Portuguese descent
Jacob Rodrigues Pereira, being son of
Edmond Adolphe and grandson of
Noémie de Rothschild.
Early life
Benjamin Edmond Maurice Adolphe Henri Isaac de Rothschild
was born in
Neuilly-sur-Seine
Neuilly-sur-Seine (; 'Neuilly-on-Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is an urban Communes of France, commune in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department just west of Paris in France. Immediately adjacent to the city, north of the ...
on 30 July 1963. He studied at the Swiss
Institut Florimont and held a BA in Business Management from
Pepperdine University
Pepperdine University () is a private university, private Christianity, Christian research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ, with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pepperdine's main campus consists ...
.
Banking
After his graduation, de Rothschild worked in family-owned banks in California.
In 1989, he returned to Europe, worked for a while at
British Petroleum in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, and then launched the Compagnie de Trésorerie Benjamin de Rothschild, specializing in advanced financial risk management.
After the death of his father in 1997, de Rothschild succeeded him as chairman of the Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild. He restructured the group's organization around key activities such as asset management and M&A. In 1999, he launched Edmond de Rothschild Investment Services in
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
where he also succeeded his father at the helm of the
Caesarea Rothschild Foundation. In 2010, Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild became the
Edmond de Rothschild Group.
In March 2015, de Rothschild named his wife
Ariane de Rothschild CEO of the group, and chairwoman of the executive committee. In 2016, all the lifestyle-oriented assets of the group were reorganized under the
Edmond de Rothschild Heritage label. In March 2019, the Benjamin de Rothschild family made the Edmond de Rothschild Group 100% privately owned. The group's French bank was consolidated within the Swiss bank which subsequently became the group's main holding structure. Ariane de Rothschild became chairman of the new group.
Sailing
In 2000, Benjamin de Rothschild purchased the ''
Elf Aquitaine
Elf Aquitaine is a French brand of oils and other motor products (such as brake fluids) for automobiles and trucks. Elf is a former petroleum company which merged with TotalFina to form "TotalFinaElf". The new company changed its name to Total ...
'' and founded the professional sailing team Gitana Team, walking in the footsteps of his family's traditions, but eventually expanding it to multihull sailboats.
The team's first
trimaran
A trimaran (or double-outrigger) is a multihull boat that comprises a main hull and two smaller outrigger hulls (or "floats") which are attached to the main hull with lateral beams. Most modern trimarans are sailing yachts designed for recrea ...
was the ''Gitana IX'' (former ''Elf Aquitaine''), followed by the ''Gitana X'', entirely developed by the team. The ''Gitana 11'' won the
Route du Rhum
The Route du Rhum is a wikt:transatlantic, transatlantic Single-handed sailing, single-handed yacht racing, yacht race, which takes place every four years in November. The course is between Saint Malo, Brittany, Metropolitan France and Pointe-à- ...
in 2006.
In 2015, the team mounted foiling dagger boards and T-rudders on a Multi One Design 70 ft to make it "fly" over water, after a decision a year earlier to build a new, state-of-the-art yacht. On 17 July 2017, the 32×23-meter Maxi Edmond de Rothschild (''Gitana 17'') was introduced, the offshore racing's first maxi-
multihull
A multihull is a boat or ship with more than one Hull (watercraft), hull, whereas a vessel with a single hull is a monohull. The most common multihulls are catamarans (with two hulls), and trimarans (with three hulls). There are other types, wi ...
designed to fly in the open ocean. It was decorated by the street artist
Cleon Peterson. The Maxi won the 48th edition of the Rolex
Fastnet Race
The Fastnet Race is a biennial offshore yacht race organized by the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) of the United Kingdom with the assistance of the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes and the City of Cherbourg in France.
The race is named after th ...
in August 2019, breaking the record set in 2011 by
Loïck Peyron (''
Banque Populaire V'') and the Brest Atlantiques in December 2019 (skippers
Charles Caudrelier-
Franck Cammas for both races).
Vineyards and farms
Benjamin de Rothschild inherited the
Château Clarke wine estate purchased by his father in 1973. He renovated the fermentation room and hired the
oenologist Michel Rolland in 1998 to perfect the Château's vines and supervise the family's new vineyard ventures in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
and
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
.
In 1997, Benjamin de Rothschild initiated a joint venture with
Anton Rupert to create the ''Rupert & Rothschild Vignerons'' vineyards in South Africa. He gathered wine enthusiasts (including
Laurent Dassault) to create the wine estate ''Le Clos de los Siete'' in
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
's
Uco Valley, producer of the ''Flechas de los Andes'' wine. In 2003, he acquired the
Château des Laurets vineyards in Bordeaux. In 2005, he launched ''Champagne Barons de Rothschild'' with Baron
Éric de Rothschild and Baroness
Philippine de Rothschild
Philippine Mathilde Camille, Baroness de Rothschild (22 November 1933 – 23 August 2014) was the owner of the French winery Château Mouton Rothschild. She acted under the stage name Philippine Pascal (imprinting on her paternal grandfather Henr ...
. In 2009, he launched a joint venture with the Spanish winery
Vega Sicilia. In 2012, he acquired of vines in the
Marlborough Region of
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
to produce the ''Rimapere'' wine. Benjamin de Rothschild was the largest stakeholder in the
Château Lafite Rothschild wine estate.
The baron and his wife were the owners of in the countryside outside of Paris, which produces
brie de Meaux AOC.
Personal life
Benjamin de Rothschild had heroin abuse problems for many years.
On 23 January 1999, Benjamin de Rothschild married
Ariane Langner. They had four daughters.
Ariane de Rothschild is not Jewish and did not convert to Judaism. Benjamin was an avid car collector who bought
Formula 1
Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...
s from the official racing team
(he was a member of the "F1 Clienti" program) and also owned a
Ferrari California. He bought the engine of the crashed
Concorde
Concorde () is a retired Anglo-French supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC).
Studies started in 1954, and France and the United Kingdom signed a treaty establishin ...
(
Air France Flight 4590) and commissioned an artist to turn it into a work of art.
His family wealth ranked 22nd on ''
Challenges'' 2019 list of French fortunes, 43rd on ''
Bilan'' 2019 list of Swiss fortunes, and 1349th on ''Forbes'' 2019 list of world billionaires.
He was considered one of the richest members of the
Rothschild family
The Rothschild family ( , ) is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish noble banking family originally from Frankfurt. The family's documented history starts in 16th-century Frankfurt; its name is derived from the family house, Rothschild, ...
.
He was the owner of a
hôtel particulier
() is the French term for a grand urban mansion, comparable to a Townhouse (Great Britain), British townhouse. Whereas an ordinary (house) was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a ...
on rue de l'Élysée in Paris.
Death
On 15 January 2021, Benjamin de Rothschild suffered a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
and died at his home in
Pregny-Chambésy, Switzerland. He was 57. His wife
Ariane de Rothschild became the sole manager of the family business.
[(in French]
Ariane de Rothschild, la banquière de Genève
Paris Match. 15 March 2021
See also
*
Edmond de Rothschild Group
*
Ariane de Rothschild
*
Rothschild family
The Rothschild family ( , ) is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish noble banking family originally from Frankfurt. The family's documented history starts in 16th-century Frankfurt; its name is derived from the family house, Rothschild, ...
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
Edmond de Rothschild Group websiteGitana Team website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rothschild, Benjamin De
1963 births
2021 deaths
20th-century French Jews
Benjamin
Benjamin ( ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the younger of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel, and Jacob's twe ...
French bankers
French billionaires
French people of Portuguese-Jewish descent
20th-century French philanthropists
French viticulturists
Pepperdine University alumni
Swiss bankers
Swiss billionaires
Swiss philanthropists
21st-century French philanthropists