Financier ‘a towering presence’ in

LORD Jacob Rothschild, 87, was a financier and founder of Cirencesterheadquartered St James’s Place.

Described by his family as a “towering presence in many people’s lives”, Lord Rothschild started his career in the family bank, NM Rothschild & Sons, in 1963.

He went on to found businesses and charitable foundations and was a renowned patron of the arts and philanthropist.

Lord Rothschild’s family have an estimated fortune of about £825 million, according to last year’s Sunday Times Rich List, and give away a reported £66 million to Jewish causes, education and art.

In a statement, the 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.”

Born in Berkshire, Lord Rothschild was educated at Eton College and studied history at Christ Church College, Oxford.

After leaving the Rothschild bank he took control of Rothschild Investment Trust, now RIT Capital Partners, and later co-founded the then J Rothschild Assurance Group, now St James’s Place, with Sir Mark Weinberg in 1980.

He was chairman of RIT Capital Partners, one of the largest investment trusts quoted on the London Stock Exchange, until 2019, and was also deputy chairman at then BSkyB Television, director of RHJ International, now known as BHF Kleinwort Benson Group, and was a member of the council for the Duchy of Cornwall for the then Prince of Wales.

In the cultural sector he was chairman of trustees at the National Gallery and chairman of the National

Lottery Heritage Fund. H also sat for numerous portraits, including works by Lucian Freud and David Hockney.

Lord Rothschild also founded Windmill Hill Asset Management, to manage the family’s philanthropic portfolio, and was chairman of the trustees for the Rothschild Foundation charity.

One of his biggest philanthropic commitments was to Waddesdon Manor and the Waddesdon estate in Buckinghamshire, having taken over the management on behalf of the National Trust from his cousin Dorothy de Rothschild in 1988.

In a post on X, the Rothschild Foundation and Waddesdon Manor said they were “deeply saddened” by his death.

He was married for more than 50 years to Serena, who died in 2019 and with whom he had four children: Hannah, Beth, Emily and Nat, and many grandchildren.