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Lord Jacob Rothschild (and his father Victor)

His father was the controversial Lord Victor Rothschild (1910-1990), 3th Baron Rothschild. Victor started working for MI5 during WWII in roles including bomb disposal, disinformation, and espionage. In 1940 Rothschild suggested that Anthony Blunt should be invited to join the secret service. He also rented a house to his friend Guy Burgess. After the liberation of France Rothschild worked with Dick White, Kim Philby, and Malcolm Muggeridge at the MI6 offices established at the Rothschild family mansion in Paris. He was suspected of having been involved with the Cambridge Five, a British spy ring that passed information to the Soviets during and after WWII. In 1951, two members of this ring, Burgess and Maclean - both under secret investigation - made international headlines by very publicly defecting to the Soviet Union. Anthony Blunt was another member of the ring. Victor worked as a scientist at the zoology department at Cambridge University from 1950 to 1970. He was a member of the Cambridge Apostles, a secret society at the University which included John Maynard Keynes (friend of CFR chair and J.P. Morgan partner Russell C. Leffingwell), Anthony Blunt (gay; 'KGB' mole; adviser and distant relative to the Queen), Guy Burgess (gay; 'KGB' mole), Bertrand Russell (set up the Pugwash Conferences with Rockefeller protege Cyrus Eaton, Sr.), Michael Whitney Straight (Whitney family; another 'KGB' mole), Aldous Huxley (wrote 'Brave New World'), and others. Stories about the Apostles persisted that the membership was mainly homosexual and Marxist. Victor served as chairman of the Agricultural Research Council from 1948 to 1958 and as worldwide head of research at Royal Dutch/Shell from 1963 to 1970. Chairman of Edward Heath's Central Policy Review Staff from 1971 to 1974. Unofficial security adviser to Margaret Thatcher, who was brought to power with the help of Le Cercle in 1979. Died in 1990. He was Knight's Commander of the British Empire.

Jacob was born in 1936 and is 5 years younger than his cousin Evelyn. Educated at Eton College and then at Christ Church, Oxford, where he took a First in History. Married Serena Mary Dunn, the granddaughter of Canadian financier Sir James Dunn, in 1961 and has one son and heir Nathaniel and three daughters, Hannah, Beth, and Emily. Director of N.M. Rothschild & Sons in London. Set up the Rothschild Investment Trust in 1970 and increased its assets from $14 to $240 million in 10 years. Evelyn was a director of the Rothschild Investment Trust, but resigned in September 1980, supposedly because he was of the opinion that Jacob's tactics were too agressive. He withdrew the large investment of N.M. Rothschild & Sons in the Rothschild Investment Trust and ruled that Jacob couldn't use the family name anymore for his company. In the end Jacob decided to rename the Rothschild Investment Trust to RIT Ltd., but put management of its assets into the newly created J. Rothschild & Co. (stake in The Economist newspaper, among other things), meaning he continued to display the family label. RIT Capital Partners's 10 largest investments in 2005 were RHJ International; Deutsche Boerse; Getty Images; Robin Hood Holdings; Atticus International Ltd.; SIG; lunits Canada; Venture Production; Paypoint; and Phelps Dodge. In 2002 they were: Royal Dutch Petroleum; Wellington Global Research; Shinsei Bank; Atticus International; Tinicum Partners; Power Measurement; Getty Images; The Economist Newspaper; Venture Production; Lukoil. Also holds a stake in Rothschild Continuation. President of J. Rothschild Holdings. Chairman of Five Arrows Ltd. Chairman of Yad Hanadiv, the Rothschild Foundation, which donated both the Knesset building and the Supreme Court to the State of Israel while supporting numerous other projects throughout Israel and Europe. Coincidentally, the Supreme Court has a large pyramid with an eye through its roof. Bought Spencer House, a handsome neoclassical palace in St. James, from the Spencer family (of Diana) in 1985, and lavishly restored it, at a cost of £16 million, to its original 18th century glory, using lots of gilt and marble. The Economist Intelligence Unit was located there since 1963 and was removed at that moment. Trustee chairman of the National Gallery from 1985 to 1991. In 1988 he inherited from his aunt, Dorothy de Rothschild, the Waddesdon and Eythrope estates in Buckinghamshire, and began a close association with Waddesdon Manor. This country estate has been a regular venue for visiting heads of state including President Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. A 1990 meeting between Margaret Thatcher and French president François Mitterrand was organized at the estate during a conference. Member of the Other Club since 1986, together with the Duke of Devonshire (Cavendish), the 7th Marquess of Salisbury (Le Cercle), Lord Carrington (Pilgrims Society president), Lord Richardson of Duntisbourne (major Pilgrims Society member), Lord Julian Amery (former head Le Cercle), Lord Rees-Mogg, Prince Charles, Paul Channon (Le Cercle), Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Sir Edward Heath, Sir Denis Thatcher, Winston S. Churchill (grandson of), and several dozen others. Member of the Roxburghe Club, together with the Dukes of Norfolk, the Dukes of Devonshire, the Marquesses of Salisbury, the Earls of Perth, Lord Rees-Mogg, Harry Oppenheimer, and Paul Mellon. Began a joint venture with James Wolfensohn as J. Rothschild Wolfensohn & Co. in 1992. Paul Volcker, a Rockefeller protege and Pilgrims Society member, was its chairman until 1995, the year that Wolfensohn became head of the World Bank. Chairman of the British National Heritage Memorial Fund from 1992 to 1998. Founded St. James's Place Capital Group in 1991 with Sir Mark and Mike Wilson. President of the Institute for Jewish Affairs 1992-2002 and presided over its name change in 1996 to Institute for Jewish Policy Research. Chairman of the Heritage Lottery Fund from 1994 to 1998. Awarded the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire in 1997. Founded the Butrint Foundation in 1997, a charity established for the protection and conservation of the archaeological site of Butrint and its hinterland, in Albania. Tried to gain control of Coats Viyella in 1999, together with Sir David Alliance and Edouard Stern. Stern was a son-in-law and the probable heir to David-Michael Weill, the controlling shareholder of Lazard. Due to Stern's extremely antisocial behaviour he was kicked out of the company 2 years earlier. In March 2005, he was found in his Geneva apartment, strapped in a latex suit and shot to death. Hosted the European Economic Round Table conference in 2002 at Waddesdon Manor, attended by such figures as James Wolfensohn, Nicky Oppenheimer, Warren Buffet, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Appointed a member of the Order of Merit in 2002. Jacob is a trustee of the Open Russia Foundation, a UK based entity founded in 2001 as the charitable arm of the Yukos oil company. In October 2003 he received the Yukos shares of Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky just before the latter was arrested in Russia by president Putin. Has visited president Putin in Russia with Henry Kissinger in the aftermath of the Yukos Affair and organized at least one dinner for Putin and Queen Elizabeth II in 2003 or 2004. April 19, 2006, the Courier Mail, 'Russian back to the USSR': "These obscenely wealthy people are known as oligarchs in some circles, but a documentary series starting next Tuesday cuts to the chase with its title, 'Russian Godfathers'... In episode one, we see Berezovsky funding the Orange Revolution that put Viktor Yushchenko in power... There's much more, but not all that the show promised... A briefing note accompanying the preview tapes proclaimed the documentary would explore the role played by Jacob Rothschild and other London financiers in helping the Russian godfathers amass their fortunes. Curiously, Lord Rothschild is nowhere to be seen, for which he is no doubt grateful." Jacob has been described as a close friend to the late Lady Diana. Became vice-chairman of BskyB in 2003, under the chairmanship of Rupert Murdoch. Investor in Royal Tokaji Wine Co. Co-owner of Château Lafite-Rothschild. Chairman of the Gilbert Collection Trust and the Hermitage Development Trust. Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects and serves as a member of the jury for the Pritzker Prize for Architecture. Honorary Fellow of the City of Jerusalem. According to EIR, Lord Jacob Rothschild is a long time financier of Dr. Leen Ritmeyer who says he has located the Ark of the Covenent within the Dome of the Rock. Jacob's personal worth is estimated at $500 million or more. March 15, 2008, The Washington Post, 'Lord Rothschild Backs John McCain': "Sen. John McCain plans at least one campaign event on his week-long congressional trip to Europe and the Middle East: a March 20 fundraiser in London. An invitation sent out by the campaign says the luncheon will be held at Spencer House, St. James’s Place, “by kind permission of Lord Rothschild OM GBE and the Hon Nathaniel Rothschild.” Tickets to the invitation-only event cost $1,000 to $2,300. Attire is listed as “lounge suits.”"

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