They say it takes great character to withstand the rigors of indolence, but if I were very rich I like to think I would have the moral fiber to turn the rest of my life into one long splendid weekend.
Rather than fritter away their time and considerable wealth and connections on idle pursuits, two sons of the Rothschild banking dynasty have instead decided to get big things done in the world, making their respective marks in very different ways.
Nathaniel "Nat" Rothschild (future Baron de Rothschild), age 39, spent 700 hours last year in his private jet, visiting fellow financiers, money managers and heads of sovereign wealth funds around the world, in an effort to raise about $1 billion to expand Kaltim Prima, one of the world's biggest coal mines, in Kalimantan, Borneo. Nat's cousin, David Mayer de Rothschild, age 33, is the head of Adventure Ecology, an expedition group raising awareness about climate change. In 2006 he spent more than 100 days crossing the Arctic from Russia to Canada, and later led a field-trip expedition to Ecuador, documenting the damage that international oil companies had caused by drilling the vast oil reserves there.
One Rothschild is making a buck on a bad idea, making a cynical bet on the way the world is. The other is throwing his wealth and reputation behind a burgeoning environmentalist ethic, advocating conservation and the development of clean energy resources.
Last year, while Nat was jetting to Brazil, Colombia, Russia and the world's financial centers in search of mining assets and business partners, his cousin David and a crew of five others sailed across the Pacific on a catamaran, partially made from reclaimed post-consumer plastic bottles (called the Plastiki) in order to draw attention to ocean pollution.
I can imagine a debate between these two men at family gatherings, similar to those taking place in millions of households around the world, but with far greater consequences. In matters of high finance, it probably matters little what more than a precious few of us think. Nat Rothschild put his coal mining deal together with some investors he knows from his days as a banker and money manager, and no doubt from people he met because he is a Rothschild. His efforts will expand a polluting and dangerous industry, causing deforestation and social ills. Nat will also prop up an indebted Indonesian family of tycoons brought to power by the ruthless 32-year Suharto dictatorship.
They say "money talks," but thank goodness that's not the only thing we listen to. David Mayer de Rothschild, the hero of this particular tale, has something more valuable to offer. He represents the old, French notion of "noblesse oblige," wherein the nobility act in a responsible manner befitting their prestige.
He studied natural medicine and has promoted conservation efforts and education around the world. He is currently ranked 39th in the Green category of the Twitter Shorty Awards for his pithy remarks and helpful advice in making the world safer for all creatures. One of his most recent tweets called attention to a Slate magazine article on Nobel laureates' choices of the eight investments that will help the planet most: www.slate.com/id/2281097/#sb2281102.
I only know this because I am among about 3,000 of his friends and supporters on Facebook. (Check him out and tell him Tony sent ya.)
David Rothschild is taking the time to make sure it does matter what the rest of us think, and for that reason alone I am glad to be hobnobbing with a Rothschild.
Tony Evans is a staff writer for the Idaho Mountain Express.
