AFP London
London
Updated Monday, February 26, 2024-17:56
Jacob Rothschild,
British financier, politician and philanthropist, has died at the age of 87, his family announced this Monday.
The son of Baron Victor Rothschild and a member of the British branch of the Rothschild family, he began his career at the family bank in 1963, before leaving the group to take control and
chair until 2019 the Rothschild Investment Trust
(later renamed RIT Capital Partners).
He also founded the J Rothschild Assurance Group, now St James's Place.
His family has praised in a statement "an
exceptionally talented financier
, a champion of the arts and culture," as well as a "passionate supporter of charitable causes in Israel and Jewish culture" and "an enthusiastic environmentalist."
Born in
Berkshire (west London) in 1936
, educated at the prestigious Eton School and Oxford University, Jacob Rothschild supported several cultural institutions, such as the National Gallery in London, and posed for several artists, including the British painter
David Hockney .
.
He was a member of the House of Lords, the upper house of the British Parliament, from 1991 to 1999. Jacob Rothschild had four children.