As Era of Megabank Comes to End, Family Dynasties Move the World Forward
As the era of the megabank comes to an end, the age-old family dynasty takes its place. David and Alexandre Rothschild both recently made the most explicit comments yet regarding succession plans of David at Rothschild. Alexandre’s ascension is part of David’s goal to re-establish an old corporate structure that “cements control of the firm within the Rothschild family.” Currently, the family owns 56 percent of voting rights in the firm, although its ownership stake is 47 percent.
According to Niall Ferguson, a professor of history at Harvard and author of “The House of Rothschild: The World’s Bankers 1849-1999,” the firm and family “became very decentralized, and it’s a good thing this is happening.” The Rothschild business model “will look more and more attractive as the age of global megabanks comes to an end.”
After graduating from the Ecole Supérieure du Commerce Extérieur outside Paris, Alexandre worked for Bear Stearns, and spent the following two years at Argan Capital, a European private equity firm that was spun off from Bank of America. He is the great- great-great-great-grandson of Mayer Amschel Rothschild.