Heir to the House of Rothschild and head of French bank dynasty. His family was renowned for their long history in banking, wine-making, and horse racing. He studied law, and then entered the Paris family bank in 1931. When the Nazis occupied Paris in 1940, the Baron went to London where he joined General Charles de Gaulle’s Free French forces. After rebuilding and expanding the Paris bank in the wake of World War II, his bank was seized again in 1981, this time by the French government. In 1984, however, the Baron’s eldest son and a cousin were given permission to found a new bank, which is known today as Rothschild et Cie.