Author: Perry
He occupies an important place in the lives of many people," the Rothschild family said in an obituary for Jacob Rothschild on February 27.
At the age of 87, Jacob Rothschild played an important role in the family's history.
Born in England in 1936, Jacob Rothschild began his career in 1963 with family bank NM Rothschild & Sons, co-founding the J Rothschild Assurance Group, now a wealth management company, with Sir Mark Weinberg and others, in the 90s'S Place (St James's Square Group, £157.5 billion under management as of June 2023), while Jacob Rothschild has founded companies including investment trust RIT Capital Partners, which invests in a wide range of sectors, from hedging** to cleantech start-ups.
In addition to finance, Jacob Rothschild is known for his long-term interest in the field of art, and was a trustee of the National Gallery from 1985 to 1991. After his death, former British Culture Secretary Ed Vaizey paid tribute to Jacob Rothschild on X (formerly Twitter), saying that he was one of Britain's great cultural philanthropists, and many around the world, including China, also expressed their condolences for the death of Jacob Rothschild, you know, China's cooperation with the Rothschild family can be traced back to the Qing Dynasty at the earliest, which can be described as a long history.
In 2017, the Rothschild family held a "China Night" event at the Waddesdon Manor, a symbol of their family glory, and the eighth generation of the family, Ferdinand Tomassini, said at the event: "China is the future, the family hopes to have closer and deeper cooperation with China, and hopes that more Chinese will know about the Wadston Manor. And learn about the history of the family. ”
The mythical family isn't really that mysterious
I believe that most people know about the Rothschild family, is derived from a popular book, which mentions that the assets of his family are as high as 50 trillion US dollars, because his family has been low-key for a long time, and rarely appears in **, so when this data enters the public eye, it undoubtedly puts a veil of mystery on its family, but the academic and financial circles do not recognize this data. Compared with the specific figures of its assets, Rothschild's family culture, investment philosophy and spiritual value that have lasted for hundreds of years are more worthy of attention, from Rothschild's family history, we can see not only the development of modern finance in the world, but also the rise and fall of great powers.
The Rothschild family, which originated in Germany at the end of the 18th century, was founded by Mayer Amschel Rothschild, whose business acumen and grasp of war money laid the foundation for the development of the Rothschild banking empire. With the passage of time and the joint efforts of family members, the Rothschilds have left their mark in many fields such as finance, industry, and politics.
In the 19th century, the Rothschilds became one of the world's wealthiest families by providing wartime loans and participating in major industrial investments, such as railroads and coal mine development. With a financial network spanning major European cities such as Frankfurt, London, Paris, Naples and Vienna, the family not only has a huge influence in the financial sector, but also plays a key role in political and social events. Family members provided key financial support for historical events such as the abolition of slavery, the Crimean War, and the Franco-Prussian War. However, World War II dealt a huge blow to the Rothschilds, with the confiscation of German Jewish wealth and the destruction of the family's century-old roots in Vienna. After the war, the Rothschilds maintained a significant presence on Wall Street despite significant challenges, and expanded and had a wider presence on a global scale. Today, Rothschild & Co remains a major player in the global financial services industry, and the family's influence is still far-reaching. Over the course of more than 100 years, the family has developed the motto of Harmony, Integrity, Industry (Concordia, Integritas, Industria), and its investment in China began in 1896.
What exactly did the Rothschilds invest in China?
At that time, the Beijing Syndicate was in urgent need of a large amount of money for resource development in its development, and Li Hongzhang approached his friend Rothschild to buy shares in the company, and the Rothschild family had already invested in the same type of company, so he generously donated to the syndicate. Since the reform and opening up, the Rothschilds have been in contact with China more frequently. In 1979, he marked his official entry into China as financial advisor to the British National Coal Company and Northern Engineering Company in the construction of power plants in Beijing and Jiangsu. In the 80s of the 20th century, Rothschild also participated in the survey and mapping of China's railway system.
At the beginning of the 21st century, the Rothschilds further expanded their business in China. In 2000, Rothschild China Holdings was established in Beijing, with Evelyn Rothschild as chairman, and offices in Shanghai and Hong Kong. In 2009, David Rothschild visited China and expressed his desire to expand his asset management business in China, hoping to increase his business to 10% of the global business.
In 2011, Jacob de Rothschild visited China for the first time to investigate a new private equity firm in China**, and in his speech at Peking University, he identified China's potential for investment in a number of sectors over the next decade.
The Rothschilds have always liked to keep a low profile, so the public does not know much about their specific activities in China, and at the same time, they adhere to the "independent financial advisor" model, and have cooperated with many companies such as China Mobile, China Unicom, Geely, Alibaba, etc., demonstrating the far-reaching influence of the Rothschild family in the field of financial investment in China.
Classification of the Rothschilds' investments in China
Specifically, the Rothschild family's investment in China is mainly divided into three major sectors: M&A consulting, financial investment and industrial investment.
In the M&A advisory sector, the Rothschild family has a broad portfolio of businesses across a number of key industries, including automotive, finance, telecommunications, real estate and energy. As a financial advisor to a number of well-known enterprises such as SAIC and Sinopec, he completed 55 projects from 1994 to 2004, with a total amount of 48 billion US dollars. It not only provides financial consulting for large enterprises such as China Mobile, but also establishes comprehensive strategic cooperation with financial institutions such as Minsheng Bank, providing services including capital markets and mergers and acquisitions. In addition, the family company has also participated in major cross-border mergers and acquisitions such as Huaneng International Power and China Minmetals Resources, demonstrating its strong ability in capital operation and strategic investment. In 2010, Rothschild assisted Huaneng in paying $1.2 billion to buy a 50% stake in Intergen in the United States, held by India's GMR Group, and also helped China Minmetals Resources to sell 18US$4.6 billion acquisition of Australian mining company MMG, an asset owned by its parent company. Yu Liping, former chairman of Rothschild Family Company Greater China, once emphasized: "Successful M&A is not only about the transaction itself, but also about the subsequent project integration and management, and overseas M&A is a challenging road for Chinese enterprises." ”
From the perspective of the financial investment sector, the Rothschild family has a more active layout in China. In 2006, Rothschild Bank obtained QFII qualification and began to invest in the A** market, holding shares in well-known companies such as New Hope and Lingrui Shares. In 2007, it invested 25.4 million euros to acquire nearly 5% of the equity of Bank of Qingdao, and after development, Bank of Qingdao became a "A+H" listed bank. In 2008, Rothschild further deepened its financial investment in China500 million yuan to obtain China Shipping**15385% of the shares, becoming its third largest shareholder.
In 2011, after the speech of Peking University, Rothschild set up the first ** in China, raising more than 700 million US dollars, which was also its first action in China.
In recent years, the Rothschild family has also made many moves in China's private equity market, and in 2019-2020, Nanfeng Capital, which assisted Yu Liping, the former chairman of the company's Greater China region, as the founding partner, is reported to have completed a total of $500 million in this round of fundraising, with a target of $1 billion, although it is lower than expected, but the resources and endorsement brought by the Rothschild system are far more important than funds.
In terms of industrial investment, the Rothschild family has been involved in wine, catering, automobiles and other fields. In 2009, Rothschild and CITIC East China Group established a joint venture with Baron Rothschild CITIC Wine Company, which aims to produce high-end wines in Penglai, Shandong Province. In addition, in 2015, Rothschild invested tens of millions of dollars in Beijing Oriental United Catering ***, and its brands include "Oriental Dumpling King" and so on. The most well-known is to help Geely Automobile in the form of "snake swallowing elephant", "eat" Volvo, you must know that the market value of Geely Automobile at that time was only 300 million US dollars, and Volvo although it was losing money at the time, but the market value is still 1.8 billion US dollars, the difference in strength between the two is huge, therefore, until today, this case is also one of the successful overseas mergers and acquisitions of Chinese enterprises. In addition, Rothschild has also worked closely with Chinese Internet giant Alibaba. His family company has served as a key financial advisor to Alibaba's IPO in Hong Kong, China and its listing in the United States, demonstrating its expertise and influence in the financial services sector. Alibaba's listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014 became one of the largest IPOs in global business history, and the Rothschilds played an important role in it.
Through this series of actions, the Rothschild family has demonstrated its professional and rigorous business image, and at the same time, it has also demonstrated its far-reaching influence in the field of global financial and industrial investment.
The death of Jacob Rothschild is undoubtedly a huge loss to the global financial market, but the family he represents has also left a huge spiritual wealth for the world, and its family motto of "unity, integrity, and diligence" that has lasted for hundreds of years is also one of the reasons for the family's longevity. In addition, with the vigorous development of China's private equity market, it is believed that his family will invest more and more in the Chinese market.
Attached: Rothschild family genealogy.
Public network collation.