Evelyn de Rothschild | |
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| Born | Evelyn Robert Adrian de Rothschild (1931-08-29)29 August 1931 London, England |
| Died | 7 November 2022(2022-11-07) (aged 91) London, England |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
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| Father | Anthony Gustav de Rothschild |
Sir Evelyn Robert Adrian de RothschildFKC (29 August 1931 – 7 November 2022) was a British financier and a member of theRothschild family.
Evelyn de Rothschild was born on 29 August 1931,[1] to a Jewish family.[2] The son ofAnthony Gustav de Rothschild (1887–1961) and Yvonne Lydia Louise Cahen d'Anvers (1899–1977), he was named after his uncleEvelyn Achille de Rothschild who was killed in action inWorld War I. Evelyn de Rothschild spent several of his boyhood years in the United States duringWorld War II. He was a pupil atHarrow School[3] and then studied history atTrinity College, Cambridge, but dropped out before gaining a degree. Born into great wealth, he became one of England's most eligible bachelors, spending his youth travelling, socialising, driving exotic sports cars, enjoyingthoroughbred horse racing and playingpolo. It was not until age 26 that he decided to joinN M Rothschild & Sons banking house to be trained in the family's business. In 1955, a couple of years prior to Sir Evelyn's entry into the family's business, his father had to retire from the position of chairman due to illness and his cousinVictor Rothschild took over as chairman.[4]
Evelyn de Rothschild was appointed a director of Paris-basedde Rothschild Frères in 1968 whileGuy de Rothschild from theFrench branch of the family became a partner at N M Rothschild & Sons. In 1976, he took over as bank chairman from Victor Rothschild and in 1982 became chairman of Rothschilds Continuation Holdings AG, the co-ordinating company for the merchant banking group.
He became co-chairman ofRothschild Bank A.G., Zurich in 1994, serving until 2003 when he oversaw the merger of the family's French and UK houses.David René de Rothschild of the French branch took over as executive chairman of Rothschild International after the different branches had been merged and Sir Evelyn continued as non-executive chairman of N M Rothschild & Sons.[5]
In 2003, he founded with his third wife,Lynn Forester de Rothschild, a holding company,E.L. Rothschild, to manage their investments inThe Economist and various enterprises in India.[6] de Rothschild was removed fromRothschild & Co's banking activities in 2004 following an investigation into asexual misconduct allegation.[7]
Throughout his career, Evelyn de Rothschild was actively involved in a number of other organisations in both the private and public sectors and held the following business positions:
Evelyn de Rothschild also served as a director of the newspaper group owned byLord Beaverbrook. Years later, he served for a time as a Director ofLord Black'sDaily Telegraph newspaper. An owner ofthoroughbredracehorses, he was a past chairman of United Racecourses.
In 1967, de Rothschild created the Eranda Foundation[8] to support social welfare, promote the arts and to encourage research into medicine and education.
De Rothschild served as QueenElizabeth II's financial adviser.[9] He was a Governor of theLondon School of Economics and Political Science as well as an active patron of the arts and supporter of a number of charities. He served as Chairman of the Delegacy ofSt Mary's Hospital Medical School from 1977 to 1988. He was a Member of the Council of theRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art, a trustee of theShakespeare Globe Trust, and in 1998 was appointed Chairman ofThe Princess Royal Trust for Carers. Sir Evelyn was the founding chairman in 1990 ofThe European Association for Banking and Financial History in Frankfurt, Germany, a position he held until retiring in 2004. He was a board member of the Snowdon Trust, founded by theEarl of Snowdon, which provides grants and scholarships for students with disabilities.[10]
In 1966, Evelyn de Rothschild married Jeannette Bishop, a niece of SirStanley Hooker, the jet-engine engineer. The marriage ended in divorce in 1971. Jeannette Bishop died in late 1980 or during 1981 along with former family cook and interpreter Gabriella Guerin. The two wereallegedly killed.[11]
Rothschild married for a second time in 1973 to Victoria Lou Schott (1949–2021), the daughter of Florida property developer Lewis Schott[12] and his wife Marcia W. Schott (née Whitney).[13] The marriage, which ended in divorce in 2000,[3] produced three children:
On 30 November 2000, Rothschild married the American lawyer and entrepreneurLynn Forester, who was the head of theLuxembourg-based wireless broadband venture FirstMark Communications Europe and the former wife ofAndrew Stein, a New York City political figure who served as the last president of theNew York City Council. By this marriage, he has two stepchildren, Benjamin Forester Stein (b. 1985) and John Forester Stein (b. 1988). On the announcement of the marriage, the de Rothschild couple were invited to spend their honeymoon at theWhite House, where they agreed to stay one night.[15]
Evelyn de Rothschild was appointed aKnight Bachelor in the1989 New Year Honours.[16]
Sir Evelyn de Rothschild owned homes in London, New York City,Martha's Vineyard, andBuckinghamshire, where he lived atAscott House, a country estate owned by theNational Trust.[5] He died at his home in London, after suffering a stroke, on 7 November 2022, at the age of 91.[5][17][18]
In 2025, de Rothschild was posthumously accused ofsexual harassment and assault by multiple women. These events were alleged to have occurred during the 1990s. According toThe Guardian "sources alleged that [de Rothschild] would 'take his pick' of junior staff at the bank and shower them with attention before behaving inappropriately towards them." Additionally, "The claims include serioussexual assaults. One included a violent assault of a member of staff when she was a young woman working for him. Another allegation is that he put his hands down a different woman's top and under her underwear to grope her. And a third woman claimed she was forced to perform a sex act on him while he sat on his desk."[19]
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