Men of Money.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVII, Issue 5, 31 January 1912, Page 11

Men of Money.

Ever since the battle of Waterloo, when Mr. Rothschild was the first in England to obtain the news and profit by it on the Stock Exchange, the name of Rothschild has been synonymous with that of untold wealth. The recent death in Paris of Baron Gustave has again drawn momentary attention to the fortune of the great house, whose extent it is by no means easy to calculate. Everybody knows that the brothers are partners, and that the bank has establishments in London, Paris. Berlin, Frankfort and Vienna. As there are four branches almost equally rich, the whole family must have been in possession of nearly £640,000,000. No one member, however, is probably as rich as Mr. Beit, or even Sir J. B. Robinson, both of whom are credited with over £80,000,000. France, which is certainly one of the richest countries in the world, lias few extremely rich men, according to modern estimates. In his curious book, "The Rich Men of the Last Seven Hundred Years,” M. Avenel states that he has not been able to find any fortune before the French revolution bringing in a revenue of over £ 120,000 a year. At present there are at least fifty in this class, and 120 men who can spend between £40,000 and £ 120,000 per annum. Before the beginning of the nineteenth century there were only about fifteen capitals of over £1,200,000.