Ben Goldsmith

Benjamin James Goldsmith (born 28th October 1980), [ [http://worldroots.com/brigitte/royal/plantagenet/jamesgoldsmithdesc1933.htm Worldroots.com ] ] in London, is an English financier and environmentalist.

Career

Goldsmith is a founding partner of [http://www.rustonventures.com/ WHEB Ventures Limited] a venture capital fund that invests in clean technologies, and of its sister company [http://www.rustonwheb.com/ Ruston WHEB] . He got an early start in business in his late teens when, after spending six months working at private client brokers, Hargreave-Hale, he and school friend Michael Radomir, sought out clean technology businesses for his uncle Edward Goldsmith and others to invest in. He focused on renewable energy, energy efficiency technologies, alternatives to chemicals, and clean industrial processes.

Goldsmith's investment portfolio is manifold and includes a lucrative sports betting company, Fitzdares. He sometimes works with his brothers Zac Goldsmith and Robin Birley. They also backed the unsuccessful magazine 'The Sportsman'. [Webb, Tim (7 May 2006) [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20060507/ai_n16353823 "Odds lengthen on survival of Sportsman as sales drop."] The Independent on Sunday.] In August 2006, the Goldsmith brothers made a bid for the Clermont Club, the casino above Annabel's, the nightclub named for their mother, but they were thwarted by Malaysian billionaire Quek Leng Chan.Cash, William (22 September 2006) [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4153/is_20060922/ai_n16749987 "A big gamble in Mayfair."] Evening Standard (London).] Goldsmith is a shareholder of Luxury Publishing Ltd, the publisher of "Annabel's Diamond and Fashion" the nightclub's house magazine. [Caesar, Ed (24 April 2006) [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20060424/ai_n16219486 "How to spend."] The Independent on Sunday.]

In 2004, he gave £20,000.00 to the UK Green Party. [Adams, Guy (27 August 2004) [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20040827/ai_n12797253 "Pandora."] The Independent (London).] In recent years he has contributed generously to the UK Conservative Party as well as individual candidates like Tory MP Michael Gove and the so-called "Notting Hill set of Conservative modernisers". [(17 November 2005) [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4153/is_20051117/ai_n15854830 "Voting for Annabel's."] Evening Standard (London).]

Education

Goldsmith attended Eton College.

Once considered to be anti-bloodsports, he has since spoken out against the ban on fox hunting in the UK, stating that the "ban on fox hunting has nothing to do with animal welfare. If it was, then antis would be campaigning as heavily against factory farming...It's another step in the dismantling of tradition." [Davis, Simon (17 September 2004) [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4153/is_20040917/ai_n12098886 "Secrets of the Ledbury set."] Evening Standard (London).]

Personal life

Goldsmith is the youngest child of the late billionaire Sir James Goldsmith and his 3rd wife Lady Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart. He has an older sister, Jemima, and an older brother, Zac Goldsmith. His father famously conducted concurrent liaisons with his second wife, Ben's mother and his mistresses [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=405211&in_page_id=1879&in_a_source= My husband and my dog had a lot in common, says Lady Annabel Goldsmith | the Daily Mail ] ] , including Ben's first cousin Lady Cosima Somerset, legally the younger daughter of Annabel's brother, the 9th Marquess of Londonderry. [ [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_19970727/ai_n14465936 Confidential; Five women ... and Sir James saved Beth for last | Sunday Mirror | Find Articles at BNET.com ] ] In 1981, his father left Ben's family in England and went to live in New York with his mistress. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4544600.stm BBC NEWS | UK | UK Politics | Interview: Zac Goldsmith ] ]

Goldsmith has several half-siblings: Isabel Goldsmith from his father's first marriage, Alix and Manes from his father's second marriage and by his father's mistress Laure Boulay, Comtesse de la Meurthe [ [http://www.thepeerage.com/p5917.htm thePeerage.com - Person Page 5917 ] ] , he has two younger half-siblings, Jethro and Charlotte. [ [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=393668&in_page_id=1879 I would be a better mistress than a wife | the Daily Mail ] ] From his mother's first marriage to nightclub magnate Mark Birley he has two brothers Rupert (now deceased) and Robin Birley and a sister India Jane Birley.

Goldsmith was raised in Surrey at Ormeley Lodge and in France. [ [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4153/is_20060119/ai_n16026308 Find Articles 404 File not found ] ] When his father died of pancreatic cancer in 1997, he inherited an estimated £300 million fortune.

Marriage and Family

In 2003 he married heiress Kate Rothschild, daughter of the late Amschel Rothschild and his wife Anita Guinness of the Guinness Brewery family. The couple have two children. Their wedding was attended by 600 guests, thickly layered with blue-blooded and Old Etonian friends, among them Lord Frederick Windsor and Alexander Spencer-Churchill. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4153/is_20030722/ai_n12056008] .

Footnotes

References

* [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4153/is_20040227/ai_n12074766 The Greenest Young Couple In Town] by Anna Pasternak, Evening Standard (London), February 27, 2004
* [http://www.zoominfo.com/Search/PersonDetail.aspx?PersonID=667752976 Ben Goldsmith] ZoomInfo Web Summary
* [http://www.rustonventures.com/ Ruston Ventures Lmt] official website
* [http://www.rustonwheb.com/ Ruston WHEB] official website
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/12/10/ntory110.xml "All that glisters could be Goldsmith"] by James Burleigh, "The Daily Telegraph" (Article about Ben's brother Zac), December 10, 2005, retrieved December 10, 2005
* [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4153/is_20030919/ai_n12055296 Does Anyone Care About Toffs Anymore?] by Sebastian Shakespeare, Evening Standard (London), September 19, 2003