Sassoon is credited with cementing his family's dominant position in the Sino-Indian opium trade, who came to be known as the "Rothschilds of the East" due to their immense wealth from finance and trade.

• He built the international business "David S. Sassoon", and made his family one of the wealthiest families in the world from the 18th century.

• Sassoon was the leader of the Jewish community in Bombay.