Rothschild – stunning family
TBy Ahmad Al Sarraf
he Rothschild Family, whose roots are in Germany, is one of the most prominent families in the world. The family legend began in the mid-18th century when Mayer Rothschild, the son of the Jewish ghetto in 1744, founded banks in Frankfurt, which soon expanded into several European capitals with the help of his five sons.
In those days, the law did not allow Jews to live in Christian neighborhoods. They were also not allowed to leave their residential areas during weekly Christian holidays or in the evening.
Mayer lived in a house with thirty other relatives, but at an early age he managed to learn much from his father who was trad- ing in coins and silk, but Mayer quickly lost his father at the age of 12, who may have died of sadness because of his son’s refusal to become a Rabbi since that is what he wished for.
Mayer preferred training at a banking institution in Hanover, Germany where he learned the secrets of the profession and became one of five eminent bankers in history.
Mayer’s businesses evolved thanks to his father’s relationship with Prince Wilhelm, who later became the King Wilhelm IV, and continued to provide banking services to him and to a group of nobles of his time. In 1769, he received the title of “Private Supplier of the Palace” while he was no more than twenty-five years old. With time, Mayer’s hopes expanded, married and had five daughters and the same number of boys.
The first opportunity for the family to create its wealth during the French Revolution came when Austria asked the family to supply her wheat, military clothes, horses, equipment, etc., for the army which was accomplished with total success.
Mayer then sent his five sons to settle in Paris, Frankfurt, Naples, London and Vienna. With time, the family became a global banking institution that lent governments and financed wars. Over time, they created wealth in bonds, equities and industries, and were pioneers in financing global projects such as the Suez Canal.
Before his death, Mayer Rothschild had laid down strict rules on all matters relating to the financial affairs of his family. His purpose was to keep wealth within the family, and not to break it through the distribution of inheritance, thereby encouraging the marriage of relatives and preventing the inheritance of family to girls to urge them marry them, and preventing the greed of relatively poor men to marry his daughters.
Mayer died but the family business expanded and increased its influence with the third son Nathan (17771838) who became an intercontinental banker. He used homing pigeons to communicate with his businesses faster than others, thus news reached him before others.
Over time, the family became the central bank of Europe, the buying agent of its kings and princes, saving its banks from collapses and financing its most important projects, and had a role in accelerating the industrial revolution. Nathan moved to London in 1798, entered the stock market and founded a bank named N. M. Rothschild & Sons Ltd, one of Britain’s oldest banks.
The family’s businesses expanded to an extent sometimes financing two opposing sides in difficult times and wars, as in the Napoleonic wars. One of the biggest hits of the family was during the Battle of Waterloo between the British and Napoleon.
The British believed that their position was weak in the battle, which was contrary to what the Rothschild family sources believed on the battlefield.
In July 1815, Nathan undertook a great adventure by liquidating his entire portfolio on the London Stock Exchange because the family knew events before they take place, the rest of the speculators imitated him. The stock market collapsed, so Nathan rebounded and bought all the stocks for his conviction that the victory at Waterloo would be Britain’s ally.
This is what happened and he became the largest and most powerful owner in Britain, whose government, until 1915, was repaying Rothschild’s debts as a result of that process. The story of the family is long and complex, and there are many references that can be consulted to learn more.
The idea behind the history of this family is due to the fact that there is no similarity in our region because of the inheritance system that leads to the fragmentation of property.
Fortunately, those families remained united for two or three generations, and then broke apart. A few economic families in Kuwait and the Gulf have noticed this and have prevented the distribution of the legacy when the death of any of its senior owners, but keep it within the same institution, while paying attention to the welfare of all in an equal manner.