Rothschild is making waves as soon as once more: Former playboy will get robust in takeover tussle

The Rothschild family history is littered with drama and feuding to rival Succession, the black-comedy television series about a fictional billionaire business dynasty.

The fifth baron, better known in the City as Nat Rothschild, is to some an aristo playboy with a racy business past, and an even more colourful love life.

His haunts have included Mayfair clubs, the Mediterranean playgrounds of the mega-rich and Waddesdon, the glorious Berkshire country house built in the Victorian age by his forebears.

He upset his parents in the mid-1990s when he eloped with socialite Annabelle Neilson and embarked on a short-lived marriage. 

Nor did Nat invite his late father Jacob, who died earlier this year, to his wedding in 2016 to former glamour model Loretta Basey.

To his City fans, however, he is a clever and talented corporate chief who is bringing back the golden age of dealmaking to the UK.

His business dealings centre around electronic cables maker Volex that is listed on the junior Alternative Investment Market (AIM), with a value of £665million.

Volex is embroiled in a battle for control of TT Electronics, a £206million components manufacturer.

The question on everyone’s lips in the City is whether Nat, his father’s only son, can live up to the legacy of the revered financier and philanthropist. 

So far, TT Electronics has given Nat the cold-shoulder. Despite having troubles of its own – the company issued a profits warning in September – it has rebuffed two offers from Volex in recent weeks, the second of which was worth about £249million. 

Rothschild, 53, remains undeterred. He is now following a line of attack straight out of the playbook familiar to anyone who has watched HBO’s Succession.

The Rothschilds’ banking empire was founded in Frankfurt in the 18th century. During the Victorian age, they became the richest people in the world.

As audaciously as his ancestors, Nat is now appealing directly to TT Electronics shareholders, declaring that the company’s bosses have brought about ‘a share price erosion of over 65 per cent prior to Volex’s interest being made public’.

The fight is on, and it seems that Rothschild, who is said to have inherited his father’s steely determination, is more than ready for the fray.

His robust stance is drawing attention to the takeover tussle. During Rothschild’s nine-year tenure Volex’s share price has soared by 500 per cent. 

But there is also a new fascination with his career, family and other relationships. Once, he was regarded as the figure who could unite the warring Rothschild clan.

But he became so profoundly estranged from his father that he did not attend the patriarch’s memorial service held at Waddesdon. The Rothschild Foundation manages this magnificent property on behalf of the National Trust. 

Following Jacob’s death in 2024, his daughter Hannah, Nat’s elder sister, took on the role as chairman. She is also on the board of RIT Capital Partners, the investment trust that manages a chunk of the family’s wealth. 

Both posts would seem have belonged naturally to Nat, which means that there is a sense of ‘what if’ about his life.

There is no hint of such a sentiment in the face that he presents to the world.

In his profile on X, he writes that he is ‘interested in public affairs, underdogs, farming, the countryside, and happily married to Loretta’. Basey, an ex-girlfriend of actor Steve Coogan, is famous for having appeared on Page Three of The Sun.

First wife Annabelle Neilson, the muse to the designer Alexander McQueen, died in 2018.

Rothschild supports Chelsea and is accomplished on the ski slopes, which isn’t surprising since he lives in Switzerland in the elite resort of Klosters.

His proclaimed marital bliss is a far cry from his period of fame in the Noughties when his business dealings were as fast as his courtships with women. 

He was often at the centre of controversy. His first venture into the Indonesian energy market backfired spectacularly. Rothschild co-founded the Bumi group in 2010 with Indonesia’s powerful Bakrie family.

An acrimonious boardroom bust-up followed and Bumi fell apart in 2012 amid financial irregularities, scandal and recriminations. But the rumpus that surrounded this incident was far less than the other episode that splashed the Rothschild names across the press.

At Colet Court, the prep school for St Paul’s school, Rothschild became friends with former Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne.

While at Oxford, the pair were pictured together in their morning coats and other regalia of the infamous Bullingdon Club. The friendship, however, unravelled in October 2008 when Nat threw a party on the Greek island of Corfu.

Guests included Peter Mandelson, then a secretary of state, and Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska, with whom Rothschild had links based on plans for developments in Montenegro.

Also at the bash was Osborne, shadow chancellor at the time. Later, Rothschild would incorrectly allege that Osborne tried to solicit a donation from Deripaska for the Conservative Party.

Until recently, Rothschild’s X profile picture was that of a venerable old man by the 18th century British painter Joseph Wright. The connection is unclear – Rothschild, perhaps, likes to keep people guessing.

One thing is certain, however. Following his return to the public stage, he is a mogul to watch.