Bruno Lionel Schroder (17 January 1933 – 20 February 2019) was a British banker and billionaire and a significant landowner in Scotland. He was a direct descendant of

Johann Heinrich Schröder Johann Heinrich Schröder (12 December 1784 – 28 June 1883) was a member of the Hanseatic Schröder family of Hamburg, who settled in London and founded Schroders, one of the United Kingdom's largest investment banks. Early life Schröder w ...

, co-founder of financial institution

Schroders Schroders plc is a British multinational asset management company, founded in 1804. The company employs over 5,000 people worldwide in 32 locations around Europe, America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Headquartered in the City of London, it ...

, and the longest serving non-executive board member of any company on the London FTSE 100. ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' magazine estimated Schroder's family wealth at US$6.2

billion Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions: *1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is its only current meaning in English. * 1,000,000,000,000, i.e ...

in August 2018. Schroder owned the 17,500 acre Dunlossit Estate on the island of

Islay Islay ( ; gd, Ìle, sco, Ila) is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Known as "The Queen of the Hebrides", it lies in Argyll just south west of Jura, Scotland, Jura and around north of the Northern Irish coast. The isl ...

in Scotland's

Inner Hebrides The Inner Hebrides (; Scottish Gaelic: ''Na h-Eileanan a-staigh'', "the inner isles") is an archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, whic ...

.Christine Seib. "Business big shot Bruno Schroder." ''The Times'', London, 24 May 2007: pg 55.

Early life and education

He was born on 17 January 1933, and educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

University of Tours The University of Tours (french: Université de Tours), formerly François Rabelais University of Tours (french: Université François Rabelais), is a public university in Tours, France. Founded in 1969, the university was formerly named after th ...

, the School of Languages Hamburg,

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...

, and

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

. Schroder received an honorary doctorate from

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...

in 2012.

Career

Schroder joined the commercial banking and corporate finance division of J. Henry Schroder Wagg & Co. in 1960, and was appointed a director of

in 1963. Schroder was a

non-executive director A non-executive director (abbreviated to non-exec, NED or NXD), independent director or external director is a member of the board of directors of a corporation, such as a company, cooperative or non-government organization, but not a member of the ...

of Schroders and a member of the company's nominations committee. In 2017 Schroder donated £50,000 to the "Remain" campaign against Brexit as well as the campaign against Scotland leaving the UK. In August 2018, Schroder's net worth was estimated at $6.2 billion.

Personal life

Schroder's first marriage was in 1969, to Piffa. The couple have a daughter,

Leonie Schroder Leonie Kira Emma Schroder (born 1974/1975) is a British billionaire heiress, and the daughter of the late Bruno Schroder of the Schroders dynasty. After his death in March 2019, she took over his seat on the board of directors. Early life Leon ...

. Schroder and his second wife, Danish-born Baroness Suzanne von Maltzahn, divide the estate on Islay with Piffa who has her own part of the estate and is in residence when Schroder is in London. In August 2018, Schroders were considering offering his daughter Leonie Schroder his seat on the main board, which he had held since 1963, when he stepped down. Schroder and his daughter were both on the board of the Dunlossit and Islay Community Trust. Schroder flew his private plane and was a keen breeder of

Middle White The Middle White is a British breed of domestic pig. It originated in Yorkshire, and derived from the Large White and the now-extinct Small White. It was recognised in 1852, and the first herd-book was published in 1884. It is a porker, rear ...

pigs on the Dunlossit Estate. Schroder funded the Islay lifeboat and sponsored the island's Highland games, the Argyllshire Gathering. Schroder also helped restore an old whisky distillery on Islay. Schroder was one of a number of wealthy individuals who cashed a cheque for 97 pence sent to them by '' Bizarre'' magazine in 2001. He died on 20 February 2019, aged 86, "after a short illness".

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

References

Further reading