The French billionaire died yesterday at his home, after experiencing a heart attack • He was the grandson of Edmund de Rothschild, the "well-known benefactor" who contributed to the Jewish community in the first aliyah
Was the grandson of the "known benefactor."
Benjamin de Rothschild
Photography:
AFP
Benjamin de Rothschild, a member of the well-known French banker family, passed away yesterday (Friday) at the age of 57, after suffering a heart attack.
De Rothschild, who was chairman of the Edmund de Rothschild Group, is survived by his wife, Arian (a banker and philanthropist, vice president of the Rothschild Family Holding Corporation), and their four daughters.
The banker died at his home, called Chateau de Freni, sometimes nicknamed the "Rothschild Palace" because of its size, located in Geneva, Switzerland.
The building has belonged to the Rothschild family since the mid-19th century.
Benjamin, whose fortune was estimated at several billion, was the son of Edmund and Nadine de Rothschild.
After his father's death in 1997, he headed the Edmund de Rothschild Group and was its chairman, specializing primarily in private banking and asset management.
The group offered its condolences after learning of Benjamin's death: "He developed the body in a special way during all these years and he was an active philanthropist."
Benjamin's paternal grandfather was Edmund de Rothschild, who was a philanthropist and Zionist who supported and contributed greatly to the Jewish community in Israel during the period of the first aliyah.
He was known by many nicknames, including "the well-known benefactor" and "the father of the settlement."
