Ben Goldsmith

Benjamin James Goldsmith (born 28 October 1980) is an English financier and environmentalist. The son of financier James Goldsmith and Lady Annabel Goldsmith he is founder and CEO of London-listed investment firm Menhaden, which focuses on the theme of energy and resource efficiency. Previously he co-founded the sustainability-focused investment firm WHEB, whose private equity business split away in 2014 and now trades under the name Alpina Partners. He has used his personal wealth to support both philanthropic and political projects in the area of the environment and sustainability. Early life Goldsmith was born in London and is the youngest child of the late billionaire James Goldsmith, a member of the prominent Jewish Goldsmith family, and his third wife Lady Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart. He has an older sister, Jemima Goldsmith; an older brother, Zac Goldsmith; and several half-siblings. Influenced by his older brother Zac, he has a passion for the environment inherited from their father, who, towards the end of his life, was one of Europe's most prominent founders of green causes, including campaigns against genetically modified food. His uncle Teddy Goldsmith was a co-founder of the Green Party UK and also of The Ecologist. Education Goldsmith attended Eton College, an independent English public school, and like his billionaire father, did not attend university.