David René James de Rothschild, commonly known as David de Rothschild, is a prominent French banker and member of the Rothschild banking family. He was born on 15 December 1942 in New York City, where his parents were living for safety during World War II.
He later married Princess Olimpia Anna Aldobrandini, and they have four children, including Alexandre de Rothschild, who later succeeded him in the leadership of Rothschild & Co.
Beginning of his career
David began his professional career working for Société minière et métallurgique de Peñarroya, one of the Rothschild family’s international mining businesses. He subsequently joined the family’s banking business, de Rothschild Frères.
His banking career was dramatically affected by the French government’s nationalisation of Banque Rothschild in 1981–82 under President François Mitterrand’s government.
Rather than leaving banking, David and his cousin Éric de Rothschild worked with other family members and associates to rebuild the family’s French banking business. They eventually obtained the right to operate a new banking business under the Rothschild name in the mid-1980s.
Rebuilding the Rothschild bank
In 1986, David and Éric de Rothschild were among those who established the new Rothschild banking operation in France.
The business developed into Rothschild & Cie Banque, which became a major investment-banking firm in France and continental Europe. David subsequently became one of the most influential figures in the family’s modern banking operations.
A major milestone came in 2003, when the French and British Rothschild businesses were brought together under a unified group. David played a central role in this process and became Group Chairman. Rothschild & Co itself identifies the 2003 merger as a major point in the creation of the unified group under David’s leadership.
David is the son of Guy de Rothschild (1909–2007), who was an important French banker and head of the family’s French banking business, and Alix Schey von Koromla. His family returned to France after the Second World War, and David was educated in Paris.
He graduated from the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) in 1966.
Leadership of Rothschild & Co
David served as a leading figure of the group for decades.
In 2012, he became Chairman of Rothschild & Co Gestion, the group’s managing partner. In May 2018, he stepped down from that executive role and became Chairman of the Supervisory Board.
This was also the point at which his son, Alexandre de Rothschild, succeeded him as the group’s executive leader.
In January 2023, David became Honorary Chairman of Rothschild & Co while remaining a member of the Supervisory Board. He is currently listed by Rothschild & Co as Honorary Chairman and member of the Supervisory Board.
Other activities
David has also held positions outside the core banking business. Among them, he served for many years as mayor of Pont-l’Évêque in Normandy, from 1977 to 1995.
He has also been involved with Jewish philanthropic and cultural organizations, including the Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah and the World Jewish Congress.
He has maintained connections to the Rothschild family’s agricultural and wine interests, including Château Lafite Rothschild. Rothschild & Co has described him as having served as co-managing partner of Château Lafite with his daughter Saskia.
The succession from David to his son Alexandre represents an important generational transition in the Rothschild family’s banking history.
Detail David de Rothschild
Full name David René James de Rothschild
Born 15 December 1942
Birthplace New York City, USA
Nationality French
Education Sciences Po, Paris
Father Guy de Rothschild
Wife Princess Olimpia Aldobrandini
Children 4
Son Alexandre de Rothschild
Major career Banking / investment banking
Rothschild & Co leadership Group Chairman, later Supervisory Board Chairman
Current position Honorary Chairman and Supervisory Board member
David de Rothschild is particularly important in the modern history of the Rothschild family because he helped rebuild the family’s French banking business after its nationalisation in 1981–82 and subsequently helped bring the French and British Rothschild businesses together into a unified international group.
In other words, David was the sixth-generation figure who rebuilt and internationalized the family’s modern banking group, while his son Alexandre represents the seventh generation currently leading its executive operations. Rothschild & Co describes itself today as being in its seventh generation of family leadership.
