China university recants over non-banker Rothschild error

China’s prestigious Tsinghua University has been forced to recant the effusive welcome it gave to a British man named Oliver Rothschild after a Chinese newspaper reported he was not a member of the famous European banking family.
In China as elsewhere, the Rothschild name is synonymous with wealth and banking. Mr Rothschild, a consultant and board member to small companies and charities in Britain, does not claim on his website or LinkedIn profile to be a member of the banking family. However, some of his audiences in China may have been under the impression he was.
After his meeting this year with the president of Tsinghua, China’s top engineering school, the university put out a press release gushing about the member of the “ninth generation of Rothschilds”, triggering inquiries by the People’s Daily, the Communist party mouthpiece.

The press release has since been deleted from the university's website but a cached copy has been seen by the Financial Times. Yang Bin, Tsinghua vice-president, told Chinese media the president had met Mr Rothschild as part of an effort to attract a wider base of "resources and support" for the university but added that in future it should make more checks on any potential donors' backgrounds.
In a telephone interview, Mr Rothschild said he was "shocked" to hear of the controversy. "I am who I am but that's me. I'm not from the bank, I don't deal with the bank and I never alleged that I am," he said. He also said he had never discussed a donation with Tsinghua University.
A Rothschild & Co spokesman said: "Oliver Rothschild is not a descendant, through the male line, of Mayer Amschel Rothschild of Frankfurt and is therefore not a member of the Rothschild banking family. Oliver Rothschild is not involved in any way with any of the businesses of the Rothschild & Co group."