Baron Édouard Étienne Alphonse de Rothschild (; born 27 December 1957) is a businessman and part of the French branch of the

Rothschild family The Rothschild family ( , ) is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish noble banking family originally from Frankfurt. The family's documented history starts in 16th-century Frankfurt; its name is derived from the family house, Rothschild, ...

Early life and education

Édouard de Rothschild was born in

Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; 'Neuilly-on-Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is an urban Communes of France, commune in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department just west of Paris in France. Immediately adjacent to the city, north of the ...

Hauts-de-Seine Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a department in the Île-de-France region of France. It covers Paris's western inner suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the east, Val-d'Oise to the north, Yvelines to the west and ...

. He is the son of Guy de Rothschild (1909–2007) and Marie-Hélène van Zuylen van Nyevelt (1927–1996). His father is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and his mother is of half

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

, one-quarter Dutch, and one-quarter Jewish descent. He attended the Cours Hattemer, a private school in Paris. He studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

at Panthéon-Assas University in France and in 1985 graduated with an M.B.A. degree from the

Stern School of Business The Leonard N. Stern School of Business (also NYU Stern, Stern School of Business, or simply Stern) is the business schools, business school of New York University, a private university, private research university based in New York City. Founded ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

.Website of Edouard de Rothschild: Biography
retrieved July 5, 2012

Career

Édouard de Rothschild started his career at the New York bank Wertheim. He then moved to Paris to work for Eurofin, Georges Plescoff's new bank. In 1982, he joined his half-brother David René de Rothschild and cousin Éric de Rothschild to recapitalize and relaunch Rothschild & Cie Banque. In July 2003, he became the head of the bank. He stepped down in June 2004 saying he would remain involved as the non-executive chairman of the bank's supervisory board while taking on projects unrelated to finance. Until May 2005, he was a member of the Supervisory Board at Imerys S.A., a company the family had been a majority or significant shareholder in since 1880. In January 2005, Édouard de Rothschild invested €20 million for a 37% controlling stake in the French

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

Libération (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968 in France, May 1968. Initially positioned on the far left of Fr ...

''. The

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

daily was founded by philosopher

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...

and

Maoist Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic o ...

militant journalist Serge July in 1973 but in recent years has sustained substantial losses. In 2010, he became president of the board of ''Libération'' and moved to Israel. His shares were heavily diluted when, in 2014, Patrick Drahi became the new owner of the newspaper. He owns a share of the Château Lafite vineyard. He is a member of the think tank

Le Siècle ("''The Age''") was a daily newspaper that was published from 1836 to 1932 in France. History In 1836, was founded as a paper that supported constitutional monarchism. However, when the July Monarchy came to an end in 1848, the paper soon ch ...

Personal life

Édouard has been married twice, first in 1982, to Mathilde Alexe Marie Christiane Coche de la Ferté (b. 1952), former wife of Sir Valentine Abdy. The marriage ended in divorce. In 1991, he married Arielle Marie Mallard (b. 1963), the vice-president of CARE France; she previously worked at the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

and Lazard Frères. Together, they have four children: # David de Rothschild (born 1998, twin) # Aliénor Marie-Hélène Jacqueline de Rothschild (born 1998, twin) # Ferdinand de Rothschild # Louis de Rothschild An avid horse enthusiast, Édouard de Rothschild competes both nationally and internationally in equestrian

show jumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes shows ar ...

. In 1973, he was disqualified from the Junior French Cup, which shattered his dream to become a professional horse racer. He inherited the Haras de Meautry

stud farm A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word "stud (animal), stud" comes from the Old English ''stod'' meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding". Historically, ...

in Toques in Basse-Normandie where he breeds thoroughbred race horses. His involvement in racing led to his 2003 election as President of the French horse racing association France Galop, replacing the defunct

Jean-Luc Lagardère Jean-Luc Lagardère (; 10 February 1928 – 14 March 2003) was a major French businessman, CEO of the Lagardère Group, one of the largest French conglomerates. Career Jean-Luc Lagardère was a '' Supélec'' engineer. He began his career in ...

(reelected in 2015). Being of partial Jewish descent, he accepted an invitation in 2010 from the Israeli Equestrian Federation to represent Israel in international competitions. He used his Israeli nationality to compete in the 2012 Olympics but his horse Lamm de Fétan was hurt before the competition.

References

Bibliography

External links