Eric and Wendy Schmidt’s family office, Hillspire, had the busiest public deal log in 2025: 15 disclosed direct investments, mostly in AI. Jeff Bezos’ Bezos Expeditions was right behind with 14. Laurene Powell Jobs’ Emerson Collective and Jim Pallotta’s Raptor Group each disclosed 12.
This isn’t about bragging rights or “trophy” deals. It’s a real-time breadcrumb trail showing how big private fortunes are shifting their positioning.
Across the top 15 U.S. single-family offices, more than 120 direct deals showed up on the record in 2025. A little over a third sat in AI, tech, and software. Health care and biotech were next. And the impact-driven platforms—like Builders Vision—kept pushing money into sustainable food, clean fuels, and regenerative business models.
If you zoom out, the takeaway is pretty simple: direct investing isn’t a side pocket anymore. It’s becoming one of the main conversations at the allocation table.
Which changes the question family offices should be asking. It’s less “do we have AI exposure?” and more “what ownership setup, governance, and internal process let us do direct deals repeatedly—without turning every investment into a one-off adventure?”
Because the advantage rarely comes from one genius pick. It comes from having a system: tracking where the best networks are co-investing, knowing when you’re allowed to follow (mandate-wise), and adjusting early—before the index data finally reflects what’s already happening.
Family offices still like to stay private. Their deployment patterns don’t. And that’s what makes them useful.
So the practical question is shifting too. It’s not “who can execute this deal?” It’s “what kind of family office architecture do we need to spot these signals early—and actually act on them consistently?”
This isn’t about bragging rights or “trophy” deals. It’s a real-time breadcrumb trail showing how big private fortunes are shifting their positioning.
Across the top 15 U.S. single-family offices, more than 120 direct deals showed up on the record in 2025. A little over a third sat in AI, tech, and software. Health care and biotech were next. And the impact-driven platforms—like Builders Vision—kept pushing money into sustainable food, clean fuels, and regenerative business models.
If you zoom out, the takeaway is pretty simple: direct investing isn’t a side pocket anymore. It’s becoming one of the main conversations at the allocation table.
Which changes the question family offices should be asking. It’s less “do we have AI exposure?” and more “what ownership setup, governance, and internal process let us do direct deals repeatedly—without turning every investment into a one-off adventure?”
Because the advantage rarely comes from one genius pick. It comes from having a system: tracking where the best networks are co-investing, knowing when you’re allowed to follow (mandate-wise), and adjusting early—before the index data finally reflects what’s already happening.
Family offices still like to stay private. Their deployment patterns don’t. And that’s what makes them useful.
So the practical question is shifting too. It’s not “who can execute this deal?” It’s “what kind of family office architecture do we need to spot these signals early—and actually act on them consistently?”