Once Mayer Rothschild, the founder of the famous clan of bankers, said:
"Let me manage the money of the state, and I do not care about who creates its laws, and the very laws of this state."
This phrase, like no other, describes all the activities of the most famous family in the history of world business - the Rothschild family.
For the third century, the Rothschilds have continued to increase their capital.
There have always been many secrets around the activities of this family. No one knew exactly what state these people have. It was only known that they sponsored many European powers, among which was Russia.
Interestingly, often powerful monarchs across Europe found themselves in debt to the Rothschild family. Why are there monarchs - even the Pope himself, and that says a lot. Well, we can say with confidence that the Rothschilds were the people who opened the way for the world to the 20th century, showing the true cult of business.
The origin of the dynasty
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It is generally believed that the founder of the Rothschild dynasty is Mayer Amschel Rothschild, who was born in 1743 in Frankfurt. Young Mayer lived in the Jewish ghetto of the city, and although life there was kept at a quite acceptable level, he understood perfectly well that it would not work to get rich without breaking out of this place. His father, a successful moneylender, passed away while Mayer was attending school. After this loss, young Amschel leaves school and begins to spend every single day at work in order to somehow feed his family.
It should be noted that by that time Mayer was already sufficiently educated, as his parents dreamed of their son becoming a rabbi. But, alas, Rothschild, although he did not deny religious values, and was generally a devout person, was not going to leave for the service. He wanted to give his life to another God - money.
Having inherited a usurious shop from his father, Mayer begins to work actively. Legend has it that he found many of the valuable things sold in it right in the trash, laundered them and sold them for quite a lot of money. Fortunately, at that time in the trash heaps one could find not only precious coins and military supplies, but also quite old coats of arms, and so on, so on, so on.
Quickly enough, Mayer Amschel became known as a responsible usurer, whom the whole district began to respect. Slowly growing up, he began to engage in additional services, such as providing loans. In this business, he turned out to be one of the best partners, as he possessed an impeccable reputation and accuracy. At the same time, many people remember him for his phenomenal ability to work. Mayer worked 18 hours a day. Largely because he loved this business and was always not indifferent to money. But besides this, an important role was played by the fact that in those days in the Jewish ghetto there were not so many entertainments that a young man could occupy himself with. He just lived by work.
It should be noted that by the time Mayer Amschel dealt with loans, he was already known as Rothschild. It may seem strange now, but this is not the real name of the Amschel family. The phrase "rot Shild" was on the door of their home in Frankfurt, where all the clients came. The phrase itself was located on the old family coat of arms of one of the German families who had not lived there for a long time. Be that as it may, but under this name Mayer will become known to the whole world, and his children will be able to further strengthen the position of the family. But how did he get out of the ghetto?
At that time, this could only be done with a lot of money, or big connections. Meyer gradually earned both. A key moment in the history of the family was the relationship of its ancestor with Prince William. By that time, the Rothschilds were already a fairly well-known family in Frankfurt with a fairly large collection of antiques. Moreover, the trade in antiques of the Rothschilds went throughout the city. They sold especially well in taverns, which were often visited by foreign merchants. Once, Prince William himself dropped in to Mayer. Mayer's collection attracted the attention of the young crowned person so much that he decided to buy it out. Imagine his surprise when Mayer Anshel Rothschild presented him with the entire collection of antiques. What to live on now?
Nathan Rothschild
After this generous act, the position of the Rothschilds only improved. Firstly, now they have become proudly called the supplier of antiques for the royal court. Secondly, the favor of the ruler at that time meant a lot. It is likely that Wilhelm more than once helped on the path to the formation of the Rothschilds. At least until they became more powerful than the prince himself. Moreover, after such a gift, Mayer Rothschild became Wilhelm's personal banker, having received all the prince's fortune at his disposal. But Rothschild would have been born an investor, and therefore simply could not help but use this amount in capital accumulation. After all, as you know, money makes other money.
Here it is immediately worth noting a rather important move: on the one hand, Mayer donates all of his fortune to Wilhelm, but on the other, he gets full access and trust to much larger capital. Not his own, of course, but you can use it temporarily to accumulate personal money, and then return it. Is it risky? Warren Buffett once said: "There is risk only where you do not fully understand anything." Apparently, Rothschild understood everything.
It is interesting that soon such prominent figures of that time as the Minister of Finance under Prince William - Karl Friedrich Buderus and the local tax collector began to cooperate with Rothschild. There are no specific details of cooperation between Rothschild and these people. One can only guess what is the connection between these tycoons of the financial activities of Frankfurt at that time.
In addition, it is interesting how the bank looked at that time at the helm of which Rothschild himself was. Of course, he had nothing to do with modern institutions. Usually it was a small shop selling antiques, in which special receipts were issued. Often receipts were issued directly at the Rothschild house. Thanks to such a system, one could instantly earn a good reputation. It is only important to be extremely honest. Or make everyone think you are.
Children only increased their capital
Of course, the history of the Rothschild family is best known for the children of Mayer Amschel. He had only 5 sons: Amschel, Nathan, James, Solomon and Karl. All five became quite famous figures of their time. There was no white sheep among the Rothschilds. This is despite the fact that each of them began his journey by no means a millionaire. The father divided the fortune between them so that each received an equal share, but at the same time it was not so much money. His children had to earn some serious money on their own. Almost on my own.
Mayer's main command was the exhortation that brothers should always work together to increase the welfare of the family as a whole. And so they did. Unlike most families in business, where the death of the founder ended in rather serious quarrels and quarrels, until the end of their lives, the Rothschilds always worked together. From different parts of Europe. The eldest son in the family - Amschel, remained to coordinate the family's actions in Frankfurt, Nathan went to conquer Great Britain, James - France, Karl - Italy, and Solomon settled in Austria. It is believed that the most significant events in Rothschild history took place around the family's French and English homes. This is only partly true, since all the actions of the Rothschilds have always been joint and without the support of other brothers, neither Nathan nor James would have succeeded.
The five sons of Mayer Amschel Rothschild became one of the most influential groups in Europe in the early 19th century. They were closely involved in the politics of those times, and, most importantly, they largely controlled this policy, banks, bishops and other power structures and personalities of that time.
Nathan Rothschild is perhaps one of the most famous, if not the most famous family member. Fate threw him to England after he broke a deal with one of the usurers from this country. He broke the exorbitant price by arriving in Frankfurt, which did not suit young Nathan. He decided that he himself would go to the UK and turn this and many other deals in that country. According to his calculations, it turned out that the deal would bring him two or even three times more money than if he cooperated with an Englishman. This already includes travel expenses.
Arriving in England, Nathan immediately felt at ease. The spirit of capitalism reigned here, coupled with the influence of the aristocracy. This was perhaps the last place in Europe where courteous relations with aristocrats were still preserved. Money ruled the show here, and the ability to earn money could lift a person to heaven.
An interesting approach thanks to which Nathan was able to organize work in England. In factories where all sorts of interesting things were produced, he personally supplied the raw materials from which these products were already created. This scheme helped him save substantial funds. In addition, the young Rothschild quickly sold all the precious things that he inherited from his father. In addition to jewelry, he also sold IOUs, which sold out in England quickly enough.
Major philanthropist Edmund Rothschild
The sale of jewelry by Rothschild entered the world history of trade not from the best side. Which, however, did not prevent him from achieving his goal. Nathan carried out a scam in England, grandiose in scale. He commissioned the finest goldsmiths in London to process all of his jewelry with the emblem of the Baroness Geneva of Valois. In addition, he also promised that the baroness herself, arriving from Sweden, would be present at the jewelry sale. Allegedly, she was hiding in this country from Napoleon Bonaparte.
Naturally, the role of the baroness was played by a simple woman. But this did not prevent the jewelry from being sold in one evening for quite large sums. It was rumored that several fights were even started during the sale.
After this incident, Nathan had money that he could easily multiply by issuing loans in the capital of Great Britain - London, where the famous Rothschild banking house was opened. Meanwhile, the influence of the Rothschild family was growing in other countries. Amschel from Frankfurt tried to coordinate the actions of the brothers, since he was the eldest among them, which means that the status obliged. In addition, James strengthened his position in France, despite the dislike of Napoleon. Solomon lived in Vienna, eventually becoming an approximate of Prince Metternich, who was a fairly influential figure in Europe at that time. Finally, Karl Rothschild worked in Italy, where he was in close contact with the Pope himself. At that time, the Rothschilds were in all economically important points of Europe. And in each of them they had established connections with the powerful of this world.
In addition, at this time, the family was involved in sponsoring the Russian tsars, the house of the Habsburgs, the Vatican, the king of Spain and many other influential persons. True, the word "sponsoring" is not entirely appropriate in this context. Usually, the Rothschilds gave loans to monarchs, but sometimes they really gave them large sums of money free of charge. Probably for networking.
Finally, during this time, the Rothschilds became the largest creditors in Europe for the barons and other members of the wealthy estates. All loans were issued against a fairly expensive land property. At the same time, the Rothschilds agreed to the slow payment of interest on loans, even for several decades. This, in addition to the fact that they traded loans on the exchange. Representatives of this family have always looked far into the future, building their empire.
In the 19th century, Amschel and Solomon Rothschild began to issue especially large loans in the form of a lottery, thereby only popularizing themselves among the public. So, one of these loans was the issuance of an amount of 37.5 million guilders. This type of loan was very popular in Austria. In general, if we talk about family affairs in Austria and Prussia, they have always been quite successful. So, the eldest of the brothers, Amschel, was not only a major banker, but also a secret adviser to the Duke of Hesse and the royal consul of Bavaria.
Meanwhile, Nathan Rothschild became one of the largest lenders in London overnight. In this city, the family had exactly three usurious offices, where loans were issued. All this, of course, had a positive effect on the state of the Rothschilds, but real success came to the family in the political arena. Napoleon continued his march across Europe, and therefore the allies all the time needed money to buy food, weapons and uniforms. This money was offered by the Rothschilds. Almost for nothing. But why? Why did such an influential family start giving away their money almost for nothing in support of the allies? The reason for this lies on the surface. Thus, the Rothschilds entered into the confidence of the monarchs of European countries. Then, they became the largest supplier of weapons, grain and uniforms for these countries during the war. Even thoughthat such services of the Rothschilds sometimes cost twice as much as similar ones from other people. The family itself did not lose anything on these transactions - and the loan at low interest returned to it quickly enough - with the first orders from the monarchs.
By the way, if you turn to history, you will notice that the Rothschilds all the time carefully raised prices for the allies, until the moment when they became simply exorbitant. The end of the war also became the reason for the next financial success of the Rothschild family. In one of Napoleon's last battles at Waterloo, Nathan and James Rothschild were among the first to learn that the French emperor had suffered a crushing defeat. Both brothers went straight to the stock exchange - Nathan to London, and James to the stock exchange in the heart of France - in Paris. All investors that day were waiting for news from Waterloo. After all, they determined their further actions.
The Rothschilds took advantage of this. Everyone knew that Nathan was not far from Waterloo during the battle, in order to be one of the first to know the outcome of this battle. Immediately after her, he went straight to London. Once on the stock exchange, Rothschild sat in the corner all day, frowning all the time. Naturally, most investors took his behavior as a signal that England had lost the Battle of Waterloo. Investors began to feverishly sell all securities at a low price. And these securities were bought by sales agents of Nathan Rothschild, who by the end of the day became the owner of a fortune of 200 million pounds. James used a similar tactic in France, but be that as it may, it was Nathan who entered the Guinness Book of Records. He was recognized as the most brilliant financier in the history of mankind. Impressive, isn't it?
James Rothschild
It is worth putting in a word about the wonderful communication system of the Rothschild family. Of course, each brother was located as close as possible to influential persons in his country, but this was not enough. The Rothschilds also had to organize such a system in which they could transmit important information to each other as quickly as possible. Therefore, it is not surprising that in the 19th century the Rothschilds had the largest network of agents throughout Europe. Later it was transformed into a postal service, as a law was passed that postmen can cross the borders of European states free of charge. Many historians believe that this communication system was a key success in family activities around the world.
Heirs
The golden generation of the Rothschilds was followed by no less worthy family members. They headed such large companies as Nathan Mayer Rothschild & Sons, Rothschild & Company, Edmond Bank and Paris-Orleans Holding. All the time, this family has had a significant impact on the financial world. The Rothschild family was one of those who stood at the origins of the foundation of the US Federal Reserve, beyond the control of even the president himself. Rumor has it that they were involved in the deaths of three American presidents, including Abraham Lincoln, who was a staunch opponent of the Fed.
Their influence was always felt, but at the same time they were constantly in the shadows. The Rothschilds are not public businessmen, trying to keep their activities secret. Today almost nothing is known about them, with the exception of a few facts:
- the head of the clan is now Nathaniel Charles Jacob Rothschild, born in 1936. Nathaniel lives in London and is a baron.
- Nathaniel Rothschild's sister, Emma, is a well-known economist.
- at the moment, the Rothschilds conduct their main activities in England, Switzerland and France. Their combined fortune is estimated at 9 billion pounds. Although there is no confirmation of this fact.
- The Rothschilds are actively involved in charity;
Well, perhaps, if it were not for the secrets that shrouded this family, it would not be so interesting to the public.
conclusions
What is the secret of this family? Well, first of all, they had a huge competitive advantage in terms of getting the latest information. Even before the performance of many monarchs, the Rothschilds might have known what he would talk about. All this information was quickly delivered to the other brothers through the family's huge agent network.
All employees of the Rothschilds were attracted not as employees, but as full-fledged partners. They were the main adherents of this form of organization as the partnership. Finally, the family is influenced by tradition. How did you achieve this? Perhaps this is the result of the fact that all Rothschilds took their marriages seriously enough. About half of them were related. Finally, do not forget that the Rothschilds are a Jewish family, where tradition is initially strong.
In addition, the family was engaged in finance for a quarter of a century - during this time, so many connections were developed that it was easier for the later generation to enter the family business. There was no need to reinvent the wheel. They immediately had a name and numerous connections. This is not counting the money. There was no need to reinvent the wheel. Also, the Rothschilds have always been influential figures in the political arena.
Of course, this is not all. There is also a side of family life unknown to the world. Some secrets that will be hidden for a long time. Behind the success of the Rothschilds lies still so much unsaid, and whether we will ever hear about this is still unknown.
Success and faith in yourself, Tatiana Snisarenko