Rothschild template

Their life is our soap opera. It is our interest in the super-rich that shows like Billions and Succession cash in on. But what family dysfunctions in these shows often miss is the extent to which the greatest wealth creation often comes from families cohering towards this end generation after generation. With the death of financier Jacob Rothschild, we are reminded that his family began building its various fortunes back when Napoleon was yet to be defeated at Waterloo. Bloomberg’s 2023 list of the world’s top 10 wealthiest families traces one back to 8 generations, one to 6, one to 5, and the rest to 3 generations each.

Born to oil | West Asia’s Al Nahyans, Al Thanis and Al Sauds are a class apart. Their billions rose from oil and gas reserves on top of which they were literally ruling. While US’s Kochs are called the “Kochtopus” by critics of their formidable financial interventions in politics, it’s of a different species, namely the family acquired wealth in a market democracy.

Rags to riches | Other dynasties in the wealth list have even more self-made origin stories. Dhirubhai Ambani started out as a petrol pump attendant. France’s Hermes family founded this luxury fashion house making horse saddles. America’s Walton empire opened with one Walmart store in 1962, which went on to transform how people everywhere shop and how much they pay for their shopping. Canada’s Thompson family built its information behemoth from one radio station in the 1930s.

Gen to gen | As important as surviving events like World Wars has been how to manage the passing of control from one generation to another. Notable here is how Mukesh and Anil Ambani finally made peace. In a different paradigm, Bernard Arnault, the world’s richest man, is putting his five children through a “Darwinian contest” to run LVMH after him.

Tech break | But techbros whose breed is predicted to birth the first trillionaire are different. Gates and Bezos say they will give most of their money to charity. Musk is not a fan of leaving his children in charge either, despite having more than 10 of these. For now though, the family model looks unassailable. That’s why the Pride and Prejudice opening line about every single man in possession of a good fortune being on the lookout for a suitable spouse still doesn’t feel dated. Except, the same goes for every single woman with a fortune.