High Financier: The Lives and Time of Siegmund Warburg
Niall Ferguson is one of Britain's most renowned historians. He is the Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, a senior faculty fellow of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard, and a visiting professor at Tsinghua University, Beijing. He is the author of fifteen books, including The Pity of War, The House of Rothschild, Empire, Civilization and Kissinger, The Idealist, which won the Council on Foreign Relations Arthur Ross Prize. He is an award-making filmmaker, too, having won an international Emmy for his PBS series The Ascent of Money. His many other prizes include the Benjamin Franklin Prize for Public Service (), the Hayek Prize for Lifetime Achievement () and the Ludwig Erhard Prize for Economic Journalism (). He was named Columnist of the Year at the British Press Awards.
High Financier: The Lives and Time of Siegmund Warburg
February 20,
Niall Ferguson’s High Financier: The Lives and Time of Siegmund Warburg () is a meticulously researched biography of one of the most influential bankers of the 20th century. Through a detailed examination of Warburg’s personal correspondence, business dealings, and historical context, Ferguson presents a compelling portrait of a financier whose vision, integrity, and strategic acumen helped reshape modern investment banking. More than just a biography, the book offers insights into the evolution of global finance, corporate governance, and Anglo-German economic relations in the postwar period.
Ferguson’s central thesis is that Siegmund Warburg was not merely a successful banker but a figure who exemplified a distinct approach to finance—one that combined high ethical standards, long-term strategic thinking, and an acute sensitivity to political and economic realities. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Warburg viewed finance as a tool for stability and growth rather than mere profit maximization. His role in developing Eurobonds, restructuring corporate governance in Britain, and reviving the Warburg banking
High Financier: The Lives and Time of Siegmund Warburg
Arts & Culture
1 min read
<h4>Penguin Press, June </h4><h5>By Niall Ferguson</h5>
This biography by Niall Ferguson, Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History and Professor of Business Administration, chronicles the life of Siegmund Warburg, a financial wiz, prophet of globalization, and strategic businessman.
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Siegmund George Warburg - Biography
Siegmund George Warburg (30 September – 22 October ) was a member of the prominent Jewish-German-American-British Warburg family. He played a prominent role in the development of merchant banking.
Career
He was born in Bad Urach, Germany, the only child of Georges Siegmund Warburg and Lucie.
Georges Siegmund Warburg and Lucie raised a young Siegmund Warburg on an estate in Swabia in South West Germany far away from the main branch of the family, which operated the second largest bank in Hamburg, up north. Siegmund had a sincere and deep affection for his mother who taught him to have a critical and inquisitive mind.
Because of Siegmund's Jewish ancestry, he was forced to flee the National Socialist regime of Adolf Hitler and moved to the United Kingdom in where he co-founded S. G. Warburg & Co. in with Henry Grunfeld.
In the United Kingdom, Siegmund was considered an 'upstart' to the establishment in the City of London. His most famous achievement was the establishment of the EuroBond market. He firmly believed that financial integration of Europe was an essential and natural step in the development of the European economy.
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