Hey, Millionaire! Everyone knows there's a big gap between wealthy people and the super-rich.
But only people who are interested in money know there's a step up from the super-rich. One
family pulled ahead of the pack centuries ago, and they've maintained their huge wealth ever since.
You probably already know who I'm talking about. The Rothschilds are the richest family on earth
by a long way. Their wealth has come with a huge collection of conspiracy theories - some more
crazy than others. But whether or not the Rothschilds are secretly running the world
doesn't matter here. The important thing is they have incredible amounts of money.
But how did they become the wealthiest family in the world? And, what are they doing with
that money now? We're going to take you inside the Rothschild family - watch to
the end to find out just how much money the family has today! Let's get to it!
There's no doubt the Rothschilds are the richest family on earth right now.
But it might surprise you to learn they weren't always wealthy. In fact, they started out in the
ghetto! You heard that right - the origin tale of the richest family in the world is actually a
rags-to-riches story. Mayer Amschel Rothschild was born in 1744 in Frankfurt's "Judengasse"
or "Jews' Lane." This was a cramped street where all 3000 Jewish residents of Frankfurt were forced
to live. It wasn't a great time to be Jewish, to put it lightly. No Jewish people were allowed to
leave their homes at night, on Sundays, or on any Christian holidays, and they weren't
allowed in parks or restaurants in the city. The conditions in Jews' Lane were pretty harsh too.
When Mayer was still young, he would help his father with his silk trading and currency
exchanging businesses. You can bet this is where he learned his first essential business skills.
But, sadly, this didn't last long. Both of Mayer's parents sadly caught smallpox and died when he was
just twelve years old. He was lucky enough to have relatives who looked after him. They soon sent him
to Hannover to work as an apprentice for the Simon Wolf Oppenheimer Jewish banking house. And this is
where his life started to change. This wasn't any old bank. One part of the bank's operations
was dealing in rare and ancient coins - a hobby of many members of royal families and other nobility.
Mayer took all his skills with him when he returned to help his brothers with
the family business. But, at the age of just 25, he was appointed Court Factor
by Crown Prince Wilhelm. Court Factor was a pretty important position, but it's not what you'd call
politically correct. Court Factor, also known as Court Jew, was the highest status you could
reach as a Jewish person at that time. This term can refer to a few positions in the royal courts,
but in Mayer Rothschild's case, he was important to the Christian King for economic gains. See, the
Christian bible forbids the lending of money for profit. But there was no rule against it in the
Jewish faith. So, Mayer would lend money on the Prince's behalf, so the Prince wouldn't be seen as
un-Christian by his people, but he could still get his hands on all the interest gathered by Mayer.
What are your thoughts on this old practice? Tell us in the comments! And subscribe for
more inside information about the world's richest people.
Mayer continued the work for Prince Wilhelm when he became king and spread his business
out to other super-wealthy and influential people of the time.
He married the daughter of another Court Factor and money lender,
and he had a whopping 10 children with her. That wasn't an accident. Mayer had a plan to
spread the Rothschild business empire - and he needed as many sons as possible to do it.
While he was waiting for his boys to grow up, Mayer continued to grow his banking empire
during the French Revolution by helping the British government to pay mercenary
soldiers. This might have been the first time the Rothschilds profited off a war,
but it definitely wouldn't be the last. It's no wonder they are a magnet for conspiracy theories.
As soon as his sons were old enough, Mayer set his plan in motion. He wanted a Rothschild stationed
at each of the world's financial capitals. So, he sent one of his sons to each capital: Naples,
Vienna, Paris, and London, while keeping one in Frankfurt. This was a brilliant and revolutionary
idea - with branches of his bank spread across Europe, the Rothschild bank became the first bank
ever to transcend country borders. The bank continued lending money to governments to
finance wars, and it grew in wealth and power in a way nobody had seen before - or
since. This also allowed them to branch out into different industries, making them even richer.
But no amount of money can make you immortal. Mayer Rothschild passed away in 1812,
but he'd ensured his business wouldn't die with him. He left strict instructions to his heirs
on how to run the family business and handle the finances. One of the rules left in his will
was designed to keep the money in the family. All inheritance, including property, could only
be passed down to men within the family, and female descendants were not allowed to receive
any inheritance. I know - that seems harsh, but it sure did keep his fortune in the Rothschild
family. But it had another nasty side-effect too - it encouraged marriage among family members.
Out of 36 Rothschild marriages before 1877, only four women and two men married someone
they weren't already related to. In other words, there were a lot of cousins marrying each other,
or worse. There's more fuel for all those conspiracy theories.
What's the craziest Rothschild conspiracy theory you've heard?
Tell us in the comments! And keep watching to find out whether his plan worked.
This rule did what Mayer hoped it would do - no other families were getting their hands on the
Rothschild fortune anytime soon. Meanwhile, Mayer's son Nathan was doing pretty well.
He'd been stationed in England by Mayer, which turned out to be a good decision.
Nathan set up his own bank, NM Rothschild & Sons, which is still operating today,
with just under $80 billion in assets. There's a pretty famous story behind where this money
originally came from - the bank almost single-handedly funded the Napoleonic wars.
It was a huge deal. So big, in fact, that Nathan Rothschild was informed of the English victory
a day before the English government. But that wasn't the only brilliant move that Nathan made.
He also made a deal which effectively gave him a monopoly on the world's supply of mercury.
That doesn't sound important unless you know that mercury is essential to refining silver and gold,
which is exactly what NM Rothschild & Sons started doing in 1852. This wasn't your ordinary gold
refining contract either - they were working for the Bank of England and the Royal Mint.
But Nathan was also using his money for good. He began a Rothschild tradition of philanthropy. He
was taking big steps to help Jewish people. He was also giving to many other charitable causes,
including education, medicine, social housing and orphanages, and the donation of valuable
pieces of art to public institutions. The family continues to give to charities to this
day - although conspiracy theorists will tell you that's just to distract from their shady dealings.
The Rothschilds held onto this fortune for a long time. But the late 19th and early 20th
centuries weren't so kind to them. Politics and family rivalry led to the loss of money.
A few major branches of the Rothschild bank were closed, including the Vienna branch,
following the rise of the Nazis, for obvious reasons. Not only did the Austrian branch of
the family have to close their bank, but the Nazis were also confiscating millions of dollars
worth of art from them. I should mention that the Austrian government returned many of these
artworks to the family in the 90s, but it wasn't looking good for the Rothschilds at the time.
On top of that, there weren't enough male children being born into the family,
which was derailing Mayer's original instructions on managing the family finances.
But, in 2003, everything changed. Baron David Ren James de Rothschild reunified the family business,
bringing together all remaining holdings and banking branches with himself as
chair. Two centuries after the Rothschilds spread out across Europe, they were suddenly gathered
together again, and it proved a great success. Today, the family is involved in banking and
financial services, mining, energy, and wine, and their closely held corporations are seeing a lot
of success. They continue to finance global business operations today. You can see why
conspiracy theories have been so closely attached to the family for so long, but one thing nobody
can deny is their incredible wealth. You won't believe how much money they still have today - the
collective family wealth stands at $500 billion! That's 4 times as much as Jeff Bezos, just to put
it into perspective. And I should say, it's an estimate - their finances are closely guarded,
and some people claim they're actually worth several trillion dollars, although I'll bet
that's just another conspiracy theory. Still, with an estimated collective monthly income
of $8 billion, it looks like the Rothschild family empire will be around for a long time.