Incredible secret of Rothschild ‘heir’, 87, who died in fire at his $1m LA home

An elderly ‘Rothschild heir’ found dead after a fire at his $1 million Los Angeles home was an imposter who was not actually a member of the famed banking dynasty.

William Alexander de Rothschild, 87, died Nov. 27 in the fire at his $1 million Laurel Canyon home.

His neighbors said he told them he was a member of the prestigious European family of the same name, whose fortune is worth billions of dollars.

However, this de Rothschild does not appear anywhere in the official family tree.

It has since been revealed that the man’s real name was William Alfred Kauffman Los Angeles Times reports.

Kauffman changed his name in a petition to Los Angeles County Superior Court in 1985, records show.

In his petition he told the judge: “I want to take my last name, I prefer that to Kauffman, it would simplify my life enormously if I took my mother’s side name.”

The name change was granted and Kauffman became the Rothschild for the rest of his days.

An 87-year-old man named William Alexander de Rothschild died in the fire at his $1 million home in Laurel Canyon on November 27.

Neighbors pointed to his extensive car collection of Jaguars and Ferraris as evidence of his family’s famed wealth.

One man told the Times that Kauffman seemed “well educated” and “very polite.”

“He acted like I think a Rothschild would,” the neighbor said. “The money is there, whether it’s Rothschild money or not.”

However, the newspaper could not verify that he had donated classic cars to the Petersen Automotive Museum in LA.

Kauffman’s brother Richard Kauffman, of Redmond, Oregon, said he remembered his brother’s fascination with cars.

He lost contact with Kauffman when he left the state in the 1960s and did not speak to him again until the late 1970s or 1980s during a “very strange” phone call in which Richard urged him to contact their elderly parents.

He did not explain where he had gone. I was very surprised. “I told him to contact our parents because they were getting a little older,” he said.

Richard explained that when he didn’t hear from his brother again, he assumed he was dead. He also had no idea about the name change, but said he could imagine Kauffman distorting the truth.

Neighbors said he told them he was a reclusive member of the famous banking family and had an extensive collection of luxury cars

However, court records have revealed that he was actually born William Alfred Kauffman and that he changed his name at the court’s request

Kauffman’s own brother was unaware of the name change because the two had lost contact, but said he could imagine stretching the truth

Kauffman was described by his neighbors as a recluse, whose only real passion in life was his car collection.

Court records show he was married to Margaux Mirkin in Nevada in 1999. Mirkin previously ran her father’s luxury car rental service.

Strangely, neighbors said they knew Mirkin as Kauffman’s cousin – not his wife, and her name is linked to a property down the street from Kauffman.

Kauffman’s two-bedroom, 800-square-foot home, meanwhile, did not exhibit the typical features of a De Rothschild home even before the fire.

The one-bathroom home is worth an estimated $1,076,000, according to Zillow. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.

The Rothschild family built a fortune founding banks in Europe and is worth an estimated $1 billion, according to Business Insider.

Lord Jacob Rothschild – the financier and former scion of the Rothschild banking family – died in February at the age of 87.

Lord Rothschild – who had four children, including the financier Nat Rothschild – began his career at the family bank in 1963, setting up Windmill Hill Asset Management to manage the family’s philanthropic portfolio.

Lord Jacob Rothschild – the financier and member of the Rothschild banking family – died in February at the age of 87

He then founded the then J Rothschild Assurance Group, now St James’s Place, with Sir Mark Weinberg in 1980.

Their fame and fortune have attracted cheaters in the past. Including Inna Yashchyshyn posing as Anna de Rothschild to visit Mar-a-Lago where she spoke with Donald Trump in 2021.