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Mayer Amschel Rothschild

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Entrepreneur

The Resume

    (February 23, 1744-September 19, 1812)
    Born in Frankfurt, Germany
    Raised in a Jewish ghetto
    Son of a money changer and silk trader
    Apprenticed to a banker as a teenager
    Founder of one of the most powerful banking dynasties in history

Why he might be annoying:

    He said, ‘Give me control of a nation’s money and I care not who makes the laws.’
    He helped finance the British army during the Napoleonic war.
    He set up five sons in major cities across Europe to expand his banking empire.
    His son Nathan Mayer was distantly related by marriage to Karl Marx.
    For years, daughters and sons-in-law could not enter the family business.
    The rise of public banks in the late 19th century led to his dynasty’s steep decline.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He is the father of modern international finance.
    He tried to start a modern Jewish school in Frankfurt but met with community disapproval.
    His descendants include scientists, scholars, philanthropists and art patrons as well as bankers.
    His grandson Lionel was Britain’s first Jewish MP (1858) and his great grandson Nathaniel the first Jewish member of the House of Lords (1885).
    Conspiracy theorists have believed for decades that his family secretly rules the world.
    R.N. Rothschild and Sons (founded in 1811) remains an important British investment bank.

Credit: Georgina


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 5 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 268 Votes: 44.03% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 19 Votes: 57.89% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 54 Votes: 53.70% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 72 Votes: 51.39% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 14 Votes: 64.29% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 34 Votes: 88.24% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 197 Votes: 62.44% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 33 Votes: 63.64% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 20 Votes: 70.0% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 17 Votes: 76.47% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 19 Votes: 57.89% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 33 Votes: 45.45% Annoying