His grandfather, Johannes Andreas Zóbel, arrived in the Philippines from Hamburg, Germany in 1832, together with his wife, Cornelia Hinsch, and their son, Jakob.
Zóbel was sent to Hamburg, Germany for his primary education (1848 to 1859) and continued his higher studies at the Universidad Central de Madrid, taking up natural sciences.
He befriended the young numismatist Don Antonio Delgado (1805-1879) from Madrid, who inspired his scholarship on antiquarian coins.
During his term, Zóbel introduced many liberal reforms: public schools, the first tree-planting activities and campaigned for representation in the Spanish Cortes.
The couple took a whirlwind honeymoon trip to Japan, San Francisco, the World's Fair of 1876, and Europe, where their children were born.
The couple decided to live briefly in Spain after Jacobo decided to study transportation systems in Europe, and he renewed his numismatic research, publishing a major work entitled Estudio Histórico de la Moneda Antigua Española Desde Su Origen Hasta El Imperio Romano in 1878.
In December 1885, Zóbel established the first tram system in Manila, the Manila-Tondo line, which extended to Malabon and was powered by steam.
Eventually, he built four other major tram lines in Manila and its vicinity (Malate, Sampaloc to Tondo), drawn by horses.
La Ilustración Filipina magazine reported on March 28, 1892, that she was invited to sing in Malacañang with other sopranos of the period.
Under her stewardship, Banco Español Filipino expanded into branch banking, opening an office in Iloilo City.
After the end of World War II, the family's fortunes would increase with the development of Hacienda San Pedro de Macati.
[11] The family owns the majority of and controls Ayala Corporation, the country's largest and oldest conglomerate that includes the Bank of the Philippine Islands, Ayala Land Inc., Manila Water Company until its divestment in 2024[12] , and Globe Telecom, one of the largest mobile phone networks in the Philippines.
Jaime Zóbel de Ayala was awarded with the Philippine Legion of Honor, Rank of Grand Commander on December 24, 2009.