During the 19th century, which family possessed the largest private fortune in the world?

The Rothschild family is a wealthy Jewish family descending from Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744–1812), a court factor to the German Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel in the Free City of Frankfurt, Holy Roman Empire, who established his banking business in the 1760s. Unlike most previous court factors, Rothschild managed to bequeath his wealth and established an international banking family through his five sons, who established themselves in London, Paris, Frankfurt, Vienna, and Naples. The family was elevated to noble rank in the Holy Roman Empire and the United Kingdom.

During the 19th century, the Rothschild family possessed the largest private fortune in the world, as well as in modern world history. The family's wealth was divided among various descendants, and today their interests cover a diverse range of fields, including financial services, real estate, mining, energy, mixed farming, winemaking and nonprofits.

The Rothschild family has frequently been the subject of conspiracy theories, many of which have antisemitic origins.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

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17 Comments

Robert Mookerdum

It's pronounced ' Rote shield ' which in German means ' Red shield '. The way most English speakers pronounce the name as ' Rots child ' is absolutely wrong.

Player

They have a giraffe sub-species named after one of their family members

ruthfunk

Clifford, as in the big red dog??

Sandie de Rougemont

I worked as a nanny for the children of Evelyn de Rothschild in London

Iswardew Matai

And I thought this a conspiracy theory

Silvia Levame

Good Q&A. Well done!

konrad

I heard that there exists a Rothschild whiskey, one bottle of which is incredibly expensive.You'b better dig into that, I think a 1 liter bottle was worth more than a hundred thousand dollars.

Richard G Schwartz

Great q and a.

klmilles

Larry Hughes, I beg to differ. The Nazis were only too happy to seize their properties and hold Baron Louis hostage for a ransom. As Jews, they had no place in any Nazi controlled territory.

Shirley Dutt

Mayer makes an appearance in the Outlander books.

Sally Onyett

...Night Johnboy.....😜

chipdhf

Albeck Wilson-Smith, Not in the 1800s. Rockefeller made his money in the 1900s, and now they are not even in the top 10. This century belongs to the Waltons, so far

Louella Wilson

Albeck Wilson-Smith, did you notice that the question refers to the 19th, not 20th or 21st century. Which is what I suspect the Rockefeller list does.