Important points
A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter by Robert Frank, a weekly guide for high-net-worth investors and consumers. Sign up to receive future editions directly to your inbox. Blackstone billionaire David Blitzer is the first person to own team stock in all five major American professional sports leagues, adding another feather to his cap. Last week, Blitzer’s private investment firm Bolt Ventures joined a consortium to buy MotoGP team Red Bull KTM Tech 3 for $50 million. Other ultra-wealthy investment firms also made splashy bets in January, including Jeff Bezos’ namesake family office, which co-led a $1.4 billion financing for AI robotics company SkildAI. Bezos Expeditions also joined Emerson Collective, Laurene Powell Jobs’ investment and philanthropy firm, in a $480 million seed round for Humans&, a startup that aims to train artificial intelligence models to work with humans rather than replace them. But aside from these high-profile investments, family office deals are not off to a strong start in 2026. Family offices made direct investments in 52 companies in January, according to data provided exclusively to CNBC by private wealth platform Fintrx. This tally shows a 32% decline in transactions on an annual basis. FDI activity was similarly weak last year as companies refrained from direct investment amid tariff uncertainty and geopolitical disputes. But even as family offices reduce their bets, they remain keen on the mega-rounds that have come to dominate the venture capital world. In 2025, half of the $339.4 billion raised went toward just 0.05% of completed deals, according to PitchBook. In other deals last month, Michael Bloomberg’s Willett Advisors and Stanley Druckenmiller’s Duquesne Family Office backed Sellers’ $257 million Series D round to build an automated lab to manufacture cell therapy drugs. Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing’s Horizon Ventures also participated in a $150 million Series D of Alpaca, a securities technology company whose clients include Kraken.
