Tailed by his assistants, Nat Rothschild swept through a luxury marina billed as “the Monaco of the Adriatic” last Friday as dozens of workers toiled in the shadow of super-yachts to finish a 213ft designer swimming pool.
The scion of the banking dynasty was inspecting the preparations for his 40th birthday extravaganza this week, a three-day celebration at the millionaires’ playground on the coast of Montenegro. He then stopped for a drink at a restaurant at the end of the main jetty.
Some 150 guests are expected to fly or sail in for three days of partying at the Porto Montenegro complex of marina, hotel, apartments and boutiques in Tivat.
For the financier, who turns 40 on July 12 and whose net worth is more than £1 billion, the event is not just a birthday party. He is hoping the celebrations will promote the marina in the Bay of Kotor — originally built in 1889 as a base for the Austro-Hungarian navy — particularly among luxury yacht owners.
Asked why the publicity-shy Rothschild had chosen the spot, a source said: “Nat is a minority investor in the complex so he’d be delighted if the celebrations put it on the map.”
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The source was keen to play down the lavishness of the celebrations: “This is for family and friends, it’s not as if an Indian billionaire was getting married with a concert by Kylie Minogue.”
However, staff at the marina, which opened two years ago and is still under construction on a stretch of wooded mountains and idyllic bays, are enthusiastic about the high profile that the partying will bring.
The guests are expected include Nat’s parents Lord and Lady Rothschild, Lord Mandelson, Ivan Glasenberg, chief executive of the Glencore commodity trading firm, Tony Hayward, former boss of BP — with whom Rothschild has raised £1.35 billion for an oil and gas venture — and Roland Rudd, co-founder of Finsbury, the financial PR group.
Tony Blair and the Russian magnate Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea football club and a friend of Nat, have also been invited. Larry Gagosian, the American art dealer whose stable includes Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons, is on the guest list.
The party will start on Thursday night with a dinner at an undisclosed restaurant on the coast. Friday night will see a “pool-party/disco” — the dress code is “disco chic” — under the palm trees by the black-and-white tiled pool.
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The bash ends on Saturday night with an open-air party on the main jetty, which is reserved for yachts that are at least 45 metres long.
Viia Beaumanis, the Canadian co-owner of the restaurant One, said that “a rather large wine order, of course including champagne but also local and regional wines” had been placed for the party at the jetty. Rothschild himself is teetotal.
Guests will stay on yachts and at nearby hotels including the Splendid, where stars such as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Madonna and Kevin Spacey have stayed.