Evelyn de Rothschild

Sir Evelyn Robert Adrian de Rothschild (born August 29, 1931) is a British financier and a member of the Rothschild banking family of England.

Early life

The son of Anthony Gustav de Rothschild (1887-1961) and Yvonne Cahen d'Anvers (1899-1977), he was named after his uncle Evelyn Achille de Rothschild who was killed in action in World War I. Evelyn de Rothschild spent several of his boyhood years in the United States during World War II. He studied economics at Cambridge University but, with no desire to go into the family's banking business, he dropped out before obtaining his degree.

Born into great wealth, Evelyn de Rothschild became one of England's most eligible bachelors, spending his youth travelling, socialising, driving exotic sports cars, enjoying thoroughbred horse racing and playing polo. It was not until age twenty-six that he decided to join N M Rothschild & Sons banking house to be trained in the family's business. In 1961 his father retired as head of the bank and cousin Victor Rothschild took over as Chairman.

Career

In 1968, Evelyn de Rothschild was appointed a director of Paris-based de Rothschild Frères while Guy de Rothschild from the French 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 of Rothschild 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. In 2003, he founded with his wife, Lynn Forester de Rothschild, a holding company, E.L. Rothschild, to manage their investments in The Economist and various enterprises in India.

Throughout his career, Evelyn de Rothschild has been actively involved in a number of other organisations in both the private and public sectors and has held the following business positions:

• Chairman - The Economist (1972-1989)
• Chairman - British Merchant Banking & Securities House Association (1985-1989)
• Deputy Chairman - Milton Keynes Development Corporation (1971-1984)
• Chairman - United Racecourses (1977-1994)
• Director - De Beers Consolidated Mines (1977-1994)
• Director - IBM United Kingdom Holdings Limited (1972-1995)

Evelyn de Rothschild also served as a Director of the newspaper group owned by Lord Beaverbrook. Years later, he served for a time as a Director of Lord Black's Daily Telegraph newspaper and was a member of the Hollinger International Advisory Board. An owner of thoroughbred racehorses, he is a former chairman of United Racecourses, which owns Epsom Downs and Sandown Park racecourses.

In 1989 he was knighted by HM Queen Elizabeth II. He has been a Governor of the London 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 of St Mary's Hospital Medical School from 1977 to 1988. He has been a Member of the Council of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, a trustee of the Shakespeare Globe Trust, and in 1998 was appointed Chairman of the Princess Royal Trust for Carers. Sir Evelyn was the founding chairman of the 1990 European Association for Banking and Financial History e.V. in Frankfurt, Germany, a position he held until retiring in 2004.

Personal life

In 1966 Evelyn de Rothschild married Jeannette Bishop (1940-1981), a niece of Sir Stanley Hooker, the jet-engine engineer. The marriage ended in divorce in 1971.

He married a second time in 1973 to Victoria Lou Schott (b. 1949), the stepsister of American news correspondent Felicia Taylor, whom he divorced in 2000. They have three children:

1. Jessica (b. 1974)
2. Anthony James (b. 1977)
3. David Mayer (b. 1978)

On November 30, 2000, Sir Evelyn married the American lawyer and entrepreneur Lynn Forester, who was the head of the Luxembourg-based wireless broadband venture FirstMark Communications Europe and the former wife of Andrew Stein, a New York City political figure who served as the last president of the New York City Council. By this marriage, he has two stepchildren, Ben and Jake Stein. She is a lifelong Democrat who supported Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primary and was one of her largest fundraisers in her Presidential bid and for her previous Senate campaigns. However, on 17 September 2008, Lady de Rothschild announced that she would be working as a fundraiser for John McCain in the 2008 general election.

Sir Evelyn and his family live at Ascott House, the country estate in Buckinghamshire about 46 miles north of London.

External links

• "Can't Buy Me Love" at Forbes (2001)
• Interview with Lady de Rothschild at Condé Nast Portfolio.com (2007)