[3] Reuter was born in a Jewish family as Jordan Beer Josaphat in Kassel, Electorate of Hesse (now part of the Federal Republic of Germany).

[5] On 16 November 1845, he converted to Christianity in a ceremony at St. George's German Lutheran Chapel in London,[2] and changed his name to Paul Julius Reuter.

Until the entire distance was connected by telegraph, messages were transferred on the leg between Brussels and Aachen using homing pigeons, completing the link to Berlin and Paris.

[8] A telegraph line was being laid between Britain and continental Europe, so Reuter moved to London, renting an office near the Stock Exchange.

[1] In November 1891, Queen Victoria granted him and his male-line successors the right to use that German title (listed as Baron von Reuter) in Britain.

When published to the world, it was found to contain the most complete and extraordinary surrender of the entire industrial resources of a kingdom into foreign hands that has probably ever been dreamed of, much less accomplished, in history.

Exclusive of the clauses referring to railroads and tramways, which conferred an absolute monopoly of both those undertakings upon Baron de Reuter for the space of seventy years, the concession also handed over to him the exclusive working for the same period of all Persian mines, except those of gold, silver, and precious stones; the monopoly of the government forests, all uncultivated land being embraced under that designation; the exclusive construction of canals, kanats, and irrigation works of every description; the first refusal of a national bank, and of all future enterprises connected with the introduction of roads, telegraphs, mills, factories, workshops, and public works of every description; and a farm of the entire customs of the empire for a period of twenty-five years from 1 March 1874, upon payment to the Shah of a stipulated sum for the first five years, and of an additional sixty per cent of the net revenue for the remaining twenty.