Rothschild Lent £4 Million Over Dinner — Britain Took Egypt for 81 Years

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]In 1875, the ownership of the most valuable waterway on Earth changed hands in a single night. The ruler of Egypt was bankrupt. He was selling his shares in the Suez Canal. The French were negotiating to buy them. And the British Parliament was not in session. On the evening of November the 25th, the Prime Minister of Great Britain sent his private secretary to the home of Lionel de Rothschild, the richest banker in England, with one request. Lend the British government enough money to secure the most strategic waterway on Earth before the French close the deal by morning. Rothschild asked one question, how much? The answer was 4 million pounds. Rothschild did not pause. He saw what 4 million pounds would buy, not canal shares, but control of the most strategic waterway on Earth.

[00:00:43]He said yes before the question was finished. No documentation was signed, no collateral was requested, no contract was drawn up. A 4 million pound loan to the British government was approved on a gentleman's handshake over dinner. By morning, the shares were purchased.

[00:00:57]176,602 shares, 44% of the Suez Canal Company, transferred from Egypt to Britain in a single night. Egypt had built the canal.

[00:01:08]Egyptians had died digging it. And ownership changed hands overnight in a private deal between a banker and a prime minister conducted over a meal.

[00:01:17]Within 7 years, Britain would invade Egypt. Within 10 years, a British official would be running the country.

[00:01:23]Egypt would not regain control of the canal until 1956, 81 years later. 4 million pounds. One