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G LOBALISATION ’ S
“G AME OF T HRONES ”
Part 1 – Dynastic Power in the Modern World
T
hink of any period in human history when empires and imperialism
were common features of society, whether from ancient Egypt, Rome
and China to the Ottomans and the rise of the European and Japanese
The world’s empires. There is an institution that—with few exceptions—was
super-rich families prevalent across most imperial societies: the family dynasty.
In a world dominated by institutions—organised hierarchically and
compete and embedded with their own functions and ideologies—the "family unit" is very
often the first and most important institution in the development of
cooperate for control individuals. For the rich and powerful, the family unit has been the principal
not just over nations institution through which power is accumulated, preserved and propagated,
precisely because the interest is multigenerational, requiring long-term
but over entire planning and strategy.
In powerful states and empires, families have been essential in the process
regions and the of constructing and governing the major institutions within those societies as
planet as a whole. well as in the direct control of the imperial or state structure itself. Whether
headed by emperors, kings, queens or sultans, family dynasties have very
Globalisation has often exerted direct political control of society. This has been the case for
facilitated the much of human history, at least so long as empires and states have been
consistent features. And yet, in the modern era, we imagine our societies to
widespread reach of be free of dynastic rule—an archaic feature of a world long past, not
consistent with the ideals and functions of democracy, capitalism or
the “family office”, modernity. We might imagine this to be true, but we would, in fact, be wrong.
now the central Dynastic power not only remains, but it evolves and adapts. In the present
world of "globalisation"—with the growth of the modern nation-states, with
institution of modern the development of state capitalist societies, the banking and financial
systems, the monetary–central banking system, industrialisation and
family dynasties. multinational corporations—in a world largely dominated by a single state,
the USA, acting as the international imperial arbiter on behalf of powerful
corporate and financial interests, dynastic power remains a central institution
in the global system.
As the political and economic spheres began to be opened up, new
structures emerged to centralise power quickly within those spheres. As
kings and queens handed over the ultimate authority to issue coin to other
institutions, merchants and financiers stepped in to increase their influence
by Andrew Gavin Marshall over the new institutions of a changing world order. Out of these
© 7 and 27 May 2014
monumental social transformations came new dynasties embedded within
the financial, industrial and corporate oligarchies. Their power was not in
Website: direct control of the political apparatus but in their concentration of control
http://andrewgavinmarshall.com over the financial, economic and industrial spheres. With that power
inevitably came both the desire and the ability to influence and pressure the
political sphere.
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Today it is the industrial, financial and corporate states or kingdoms. That type of authority does not exist
dynasties that have risen to unparalleled positions of at the major state, regional or global levels today,
authority in the age of globalisation. And yet, while although with a few exceptions such as the ruling
some of their names ring familiar to the ears of many, monarchs of the Gulf Arab dictatorships. Yet, while the
they are frequently thought of as relics of past centuries mechanism of authority is less centralised or formalised
rather than titans of today, or their names are altogether in the modern world, the scope and reach of authority—or
unfamiliar, as are their positions and influence within influence—has expanded exponentially. In short, while in
our societies. We see power, typically, in terms of those past eras a single family may have exerted absolute
who hold political office: prime ministers and presidents authority over a comparably small region or empire, today
whom we elect, as is consistent with our belief that we the indirect influence of a dynastic family may reach
live in democracies. We see competing factions of across the globe, though it remains far from absolute.
political parties vying for office, with us—the people—as Families that have established modern dynasties
the ultimate arbiters of who gets to hold power. The typically rose to prominence through their concentration
influence of globalisation's dynasties remains unseen, or of power and wealth in financial, industrial and
misunderstood. corporate spheres. From these positions, political power
A perfect example of this is with the immense popularity and influence became a necessity, or else the loss of
of the television show Game of Thrones [based on the economic power would be an inevitability.
acclaimed book A Game of Thrones and series A Song of Ice Such dynasties would frequently establish a "family
and Fire]. In this show, set in a office"—a private corporate
mythical world yet largely based entity—which would handle all
upon the historical rivalries of of the investments, interests
the War of the Roses, we witness From these positions, and finances of a dynasty. They
the characters evolve and events political power and would create universities which
unfold as several families and would focus on producing
dynasties battle each other and influence became a knowledge and intellectuals
conspire, compete and necessity, or else the loss capable of managing changes
cooperate for control of the within and protecting the social
known world. They are of economic power would order, instead of channelling
frequently ruthless, cunning and be an inevitability. intellectual talents or pursuits
deceitful, often surrounded by into areas that challenge the
"yes men" or the poison-tongued prevailing order.
advisers who rose to their Dynastic families establish
positions not by virtue of birth and name but by their "philanthropic foundations" to serve a dual purpose of
individual capacities for manipulation and cunning. It is a justifying their wealth and influence (by being perceived
world in perpetual war and engrossing poverty, with the as "giving back") but which, in actuality, provide
privileged few sending the poor to fight their battles for concentrations of wealth managed for the purpose of
them, to die and suffer while the rich few propagate and "strategic giving"—to undertake social engineering
prosper. projects with an ultimate objective of maintaining social
Indeed, the world of Game of Thrones—so popular in our control. While appearing to be "charitable" institutions,
culture—is not so far from the reality of our culture itself. the major foundations are predominantly interested in
In the world of globalisation, families cooperate, the process of long-term social engineering. Notable
compete and perhaps even conspire against and with among such foundations are The Rockefeller
each other or themselves. They keep the politics of Foundation, Carnegie Corporation, Ford Foundation,
dynastic power from being understood or contemplated Open Society Foundations and the Bill & Melinda Gates
by the masses. We are distracted with sports, Foundation, among many others.
entertainment, royal weddings, a fear of foreigners and Not unrelated, as they are frequently established and
terrorism, and are blinded and manipulated by a deeply funded by foundations, think-tanks are created with the
embedded propaganda system. Our celebrity culture intent to bring elite interests together from a wide array
celebrates banality and irrelevance: we tune in to the of institutions: financial, industrial, corporate,
latest "Kim Kar-crash-ian" disaster of a human being that academic/intellectual, media, cultural, foreign policy and
plasters the tabloids, while we tune out to the rivalries political spheres. In think-tanks, top officials from these
and repercussions of globalisation's "game of thrones". sectors are gathered in a single institution where they
While modern dynasties share many characteristics of work together to plan strategies for economic and
past ruling families, they have their major distinctions, foreign policies, for establishing consensus between
largely derived from the fact that most of them do not elites, and to serve as training and recruitment grounds
hold formal political or absolute authority. Past dynasties for officials to enter the political and foreign policy
typically held absolute authority over their local regions, establishment where they are capable of enacting the
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very policies developed within the think-tanks. Of Rockefellers and Rothschilds
Notable think-tanks with immense influence— One of the world's most famous family trusts—the
specifically in the USA—include the Council on Foreign "family office"—is that of Rockefeller & Co., now known
Relations, The Brookings Institution, the Carnegie as Rockefeller Financial. It was founded in 1882 by the
Endowment and the Center for Strategic & International oil baron–industrialist John D. Rockefeller as the "family
Studies. Larger, international think-tanks have become office" to manage the Rockefeller family's investments
increasingly common during the era of globalisation, and wealth. Roughly a century after it was founded, in
uniting respective elites from across the powerful the 1980s Rockefeller & Co. began selling its "expertise"
western industrial states instead of simply the elites to other rich families, and by 2008 the trust had roughly
within each respective state. Among these institutions US$28 billion under management for multiple clients.
are The Trilateral Commission, the Bilderberg Group and When the CEO of Rockefeller & Co., James S.
the World Economic Forum. McDonald, shot himself in an alley behind a car
The prevalence of financial, industrial and corporate dealership in 2009, the family looked for and found a
dynasties within these institutions has ensured that successor in the former Under Secretary of State for
such families have significant political Economic, Business, and Agricultural
influence and, moreover, have played Affairs for the Bush administration,
pivotal roles in the construction and Rueben Jeffery III, a former partner at
evolution of our modern Goldman Sachs. Jeffery was
state–capitalist society. While prominent responsible for handling the family's
family trusts wealth throughout the global financial
Part 2 – Managing the Wealth of the crisis, and, by 2012, the assets under
World’s Dynasties: A Family Affair have become management by Rockefeller Financial
Corporate America can frequently be
seen as the emblem of the "self-made"
increasingly had grown to $35 billion.
While prominent family trusts have
rich, a representation of a supposedly attractive for become increasingly attractive for
democratic capitalist society where other rich families other rich families and institutions to
firms are run by "professional handle their wealth, they have also
managers" who received the right and institutions become attractive investments in and
education and developed the of themselves. One of Europe's
appropriate talents to make
to handle largest banks, the French
successful companies. The reality, their wealth, conglomerate Société Générale
however, is that roughly a third of (SocGen) purchased a 37 per cent
the Fortune 500 companies (that is, they have also stake in Rockefeller & Co. in June
many of the world's largest become attractive 2008. However, with the
multinational corporations) are in European debt crisis, the bank
fact "family businesses", investments in and had to cut a great deal of its
frequently run by family members of themselves. assets, and so in 2012 Rueben
and often outperforming the Jeffery III managed the sale of the
"professionally managed" firms 37 per cent stake in the
"by a surprisingly large margin", Rockefeller enterprise from
noted the New York Times. Dynastic SocGen to RIT Capital Partners,
trusts allow super-rich families "to the investment arm of the
provide their heirs with money and property largely free London Rothschild family, one of the world's most
from taxes and immune to the claims of creditors", not famous financial dynasties.
only providing for children but "for generations in Early in 2012, the Rothschild family, with various banks
perpetuity—truly creating an American aristocracy". and investment entities spread out across multiple
Under laws that pre-date the formation of the USA as European nations and family branches, was making a
an independent nation, such family trusts were only able concerted effort to begin the process of "merging its
to limit the term of the existing trust to roughly 90 years, French and British assets into a single entity", aiming to
after which the property and wealth which was secure "long-term control" over the family's
consolidated into the trust would be owned directly by "international banking empire", reported the Financial
the family members. However, in changes that were Times. The main goal of the merger was "to cement once
implemented through Congress in the mid-1980s and in and for all the family's grip on the business", giving the
state legislatures across the USA in the 1990s, the rules family a 57 per cent share in the voting rights, thus
were amended, with pressure from the banking lobby, to protecting the merged entity from hostile takeovers.
allow family trusts to exist "forever"—a quiet coup for the Thus, as the Rothschild banking dynasty was seeking
existing and emerging aristocratic American class. to consolidate its own family interests across Europe,
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they were simultaneously looking to expand into the attain "both the know-how and the contacts for forging
USA through the Rockefellers. overseas collaborations between family businesses".
Thus, when Lord (Jacob) Rothschild—who manages So-called "non-profit" associations like the
the British Rothschild's family trust, RIT Capital International Family Office Association, The Family
Partners—announced that RIT would be purchasing a 37 Business Network and ESAFON, among others, are
per cent stake in Rockefeller Financial Services in May institutional representations of "intentional efforts by
2012 for an "undisclosed sum", it was announced as a rich clans to rub shoulders with one another". Instead of
"strategic partnership" that would allow the Rothschilds a rich family in one region hiring an outside firm to
to gain "a much sought-after foothold in the US", introduce them to a new market, they simply are able to
representing a "transatlantic union" that officially unites
reach out directly to the wealthy families within that
the two family patriarchs of David Rockefeller and Jacob market, and, as Pepper explained, their interests will be
Rothschild, "whose personal relationship spans five increasingly aligned and "hopefully you'll all make
decades". money together". Instead of relying on banks as
intermediaries between markets, rich families with more
The Family Office than $47 million to invest are pooling their wealth into
The world's largest private banks have specific "family the multi-family offices (MFOs).
office arms" which are dedicated to managing dynastic As the Wall Street Journal noted, family offices "are
wealth, and these banks private firms that manage just
continue to dominate the about everything for the
overall market. wealthiest families: tax
A top official at HSBC Private As such, regardless of planning, investment
Bank was quoted by the Financial where many family fortunes management, estate planning,
Times as saying: "Very wealthy philanthropy, art and wine
families are becoming more and are made, the family office collections—even the family
more globalised. It's not just has come to represent vacation compound". As such,
the fact that they are acquiring regardless of where many family
assets—like real estate—in the central institution of fortunes are made, the family
several jurisdictions, but family modern dynasties. office has come to represent the
members are scattered around central institution of modern
the globe and need to be able to dynasties. The growth of multi-
transact in those countries." In family offices has been
effect, we are witnessing the era of the globalisation of astounding, with the number increasing by 33 per cent
family dynasties. between 2008 and 2013, with more than 4,000 in the USA
Such a view is shared by Carol Pepper, a former alone, the country with the highest number of wealthy
financial adviser and portfolio manager at Rockefeller & families and individuals, including 5,000 households
Co. who in 2001 established her own consulting firm, that have more than $100 million in assets.
Pepper International, specialising in advising families In 2012, the largest multi-family offices were largely
with more than $100 million in net worth. In a 2013 associated with major banks, including HSBC, BNY
interview with Barron's, Pepper explained that with the Mellon, UBS, Wells Fargo and Bank of America, but
globalisation of higher education—where the super-rich Rockefeller Financial maintained a prominent position
from around the world send their children to the same as the 11th largest multi-family office (according to
prominent academic institutions—as well as with the assets under advisement and number of families being
emergence of associations designed to bring wealthy served).
families together, "the 19th century [is] coming back", Beyond the specific arm of the "multi-family office" to
referring to the era of "robber baron" industrialists and the top wealth management groups as a whole, private
co-operation between the major industrial and financial bank branches of some of the world's most recognisable
fortunes of the era. bank names dominated the list: Bank of America Global
The globalisation of family dynasties and the "return" Wealth & Investment Management, Morgan Stanley
to the 19th century is an institutional phenomenon Smith Barney, J.P.Morgan, Wells Fargo & Company, UBS
facilitated by elite universities, business and family Wealth Management, Fidelity Investments and Goldman
associations, international organisations, conferences Sachs, among others. However, after the top 19 wealth
and other organisations. Thus, regardless of geographic management companies in the world—all of which are
location, the world's wealthiest families tend to send arms of major global banking and financial services
their children to one of a list of relatively few elite conglomerates—came number 20 on the list:
universities such as Wharton, Harvard or The London Rockefeller Financial.
School of Economics. At these and similar schools,
noted Carol Pepper, the future heirs of family fortunes Continued on page 81
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Globalisation’s “Game of Thrones”
Continued from page 16 afford to be a long-term investor? The and cooperate for control not simply
ultra-high-end client is the only one we over nations but over entire regions
Indeed, things have never been better
could think of, because they generally and the world as a whole. As dynasties
for the super-rich. In 2013, Bloomberg
have more money than their spending seek perpetuation, most people on this
Markets magazine reported that the
needs." In addition, she noted that planet are concerned with survival.
number of wealthy people in the world
"their assets are multigenerational" Whoever wins this "game of thrones",
with more than $1 million in investable
assets had increased by 9.2 per cent and, what's more, "they are not the people lose. ∞
over 2012, reaching a new record of 12 accountable to anyone". About the Author:
million individuals, and the assets of In a world of immense inequality, Andrew Gavin Marshall is a 27-year old
the rich increased by roughly 10 per with the super-rich controlling more researcher and writer based in Montreal,
cent, reaching a combined total of wealth than the rest of humanity Canada. He is project manager of The
roughly $46.2 trillion. With this growth combined, the wealth management People’s Book Project, chair of the
in extreme wealth, the wealth industry and, within it, the "family Geopolitics Department of The
management business is itself office" have become growth industries Hampton Institute, and research director
becoming a major growth industry, with and increasingly important institutions. for Occupy.com’s Global Power Project
independent firms competing against The whole process of globalisation has and World of Resistance (WoR) Report.
the big banks in a race to manage the facilitated not only the He hosts a weekly podcast show with
spoils of the world's super-rich. internationalisation of financial BoilingFrogsPost.com. For more
The managing director and chief markets, multinational corporations information, visit his website
investment officer of the Goldman and the economies they dominate, but http://andrewgavinmarshall.com.
Sachs arm Private Wealth it has in turn facilitated the
Management, Sharmin Mossavar- globalisation of family dynasties Editor’s Note:
Rahmani, told Barron's in 2012: "This is themselves, whose wealth is largely The complete version of this article, parts
the time to be a long-term investor… based on control over corporate and one and two of a series, contains
There are very few market participants financial assets and institutions. hyperlinked references and more, and is
in today's environment who can truly In globalisation's "game of thrones", available at http://tinyurl.com/k86ugr7
be long-term investors. Who can really the world's super-rich families compete and http://tinyurl.com/mlw4xkf.
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