 rapidly developed the bank's corporate finance and eurobond activities. But relations between the two were never close, and became increasingly strained as they evolved differing visions for the future of the firm in the 1970s. When Jacob's father Victor – the 3rd Lord Rothschild, and the former head of Edward Heath's Downing Street 'Think Tank' – became stop-gap chairman in 1975, the competition between Evelyn and Jacob for leadership of the next generation still seemed open. But Evelyn's shareholding counted strongly, and despite Jacob's more active contribution to the development of the business, the firm's other directors regarded Evelyn as a safer pair of hands. The chairmanship was duly conferred on him in 1976. At a time when the whole City was at a low ebb, Evelyn de Rothschild strongly opposed an){kind=link}
It was said that NM Rothschild executives simply asked each other: ‘Would Evelyn want us to do this?’ If the answer was no, it was not done
Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, who has died aged 91, was the head of his family’s banking house in London for almost three decades.
He maintained N M Rothschild’s prestigious reputation, particularly as an adviser to governments, as well as its independence; by the end of his tenure in 2003, the firm was unique in the City as the only traditional, family-controlled merchant bank to have survived intact the upheavals of Big Bang and the turbulent years that followed.
As majority shareholder of N M Rothschild as well as chairman, Sir Evelyn was an autocrat of mercurial temperament. He disliked publicity, whether personal or corporate, and discouraged strategic debate among his colleagues, though he interfered little in client relations and deals. It was said that Rothschild executives simply asked each other: “Would Evelyn want us to do this?” If the answer was no, it was not done.
Evelyn de Rothschild joined NM Rothschild as a junior partner in 1957. His early career path there was much intertwined with that of his cousin Jacob, who was five years his junior and joined in 1963. With Evelyn’s encouragement, the clever, entrepreneurial Jacob (later the 4th Lord Rothschild) rapidly developed the bank’s corporate finance and eurobond activities. But relations between the two were never close, and became increasingly strained as they evolved differing visions for the future of the firm in the 1970s.