ANALYSIS · Capital

The Family Office Boom: Why the Wealthiest Owners Now Buy Companies Directly

Surveys from Deloitte, Citi, Goldman Sachs and BNY show family offices multiplying and leaning into direct stakes in private companies, which changes who may sit across the table from a founder.

Rendal Post Analysis Desk · Published October 2, 2026

For the owner of a mid-sized company, one of the more consequential shifts in private capital is not a new fund strategy but a different kind of counterparty. Family offices, the private investment vehicles of very wealthy families, are multiplying and gaining assets, and the recent surveys we reviewed show a large share of them buying stakes in private companies directly rather than only committing money to funds. In our reading, that makes the family office a realistic buyer, co-investor or long-term partner for founders who might once have looked only to private equity firms or corporate acquirers. It also means the relationship runs on different terms, and owners who understand how these investors think will be better placed to negotiate with them.

How big the sector has become

Deloitte Private estimated in September 2024 that there were about 8,030 single family offices worldwide, up from roughly 6,130 in 2019, and projected the total to exceed 10,720 by 2030 (Deloitte Private). North America accounted for the largest group, with an estimated 3,180 offices in 2024, according to the same Deloitte release.

The money behind these offices is also projected to grow. In its 2024 release, Deloitte put family office assets under management at US$3.1 trillion and expected them to reach US$5.4 trillion by 2030, while it projected the total wealth of the families behind them to rise from a 2024 estimate of US$5.5 trillion to US$9.5 trillion over the same period (Deloitte Private). Rebecca Gooch, Deloitte Private's global head of insights, said the richest families "have been accumulating wealth at a meteoric pace" thanks to gains in their operating businesses and other holdings (Deloitte Private).

Much of this is new money. Deloitte found that 68% of family offices were set up after the turn of the millennium and that 41% serve first-generation families (Deloitte Private), which suggests that many principals are the people who built the fortune in the first place. The firm links the sector's expansion to growing wealth concentration, generational transfers, strong private equity and M&A markets, and demand for more tailored investment strategies (Deloitte Private).

Direct deals sit at the center

Citi Wealth's 2025 survey drew a record 346 family offices from 45 countries, and 70% of them said they were engaged with direct investments, with four in ten of that group reporting higher activity than a year earlier (Citi Wealth). CNBC's account of the same survey put it as seven out of ten family offices having invested directly in private companies over the prior 12 months (CNBC).

BNY Wealth, which polled decision-makers at 282 single family offices managing from $250 million to more than $5 billion, reports that 64% plan at least six direct deals over the next year (BNY Wealth). The report defines direct investing as negotiating with a private company to supply debt or equity instead of financing it through a third-party fund, and argues that it lets family offices put their own entrepreneurial know-how to work (BNY Wealth).

The appetite has not faded since. Citi's latest report, drawn from more than 350 family offices in over 40 countries, calls private markets "a strategic pillar of family office portfolios" and says direct investing is still increasing, with growth-stage opportunities drawing strong interest (Citi Private Bank). That held even as nearly half of respondents added to listed stocks during the year, making public equities the top destination for new capital in the 2026 survey (Citi Private Bank). Goldman Sachs, for its part, found that 39% of family offices intend to raise private equity allocations over the next 12 months and that alternatives already make up 42% of the average portfolio (Goldman Sachs).

Patient money on a different clock

Goldman Sachs describes family offices as bringing permanent capital meant to last across generations, without the pressure of marking positions to market for outside investors (Goldman Sachs). In our reading, that is the main structural difference a founder will feel at the table: the investor is less likely to be working toward a fixed exit date set by someone else. Allocations have also held steady: "Family offices are quite committed to their asset allocation," said Sara Naison-Tarajano, a coauthor of the Goldman report, who noted that the 2025 mix looked much like the one from two years earlier despite a very different market (Goldman Sachs).

The operating-business roots matter too. Three-quarters of the 2025 Citi respondents said they own controlling stakes in operating businesses, and Hannes Hofmann, head of Citi's family office group, said in a CNBC interview that these investors "get a reliable cash flow every year from operating businesses so they can afford to put more money into private equity" (CNBC). He also said that "when other players have to sell their illiquid assets, family offices can come in and buy them" (CNBC).

Some want control outright. In the same survey, 8% of family offices called buying control of a company a priority, while a further 14% said the idea was under consideration (CNBC). Hofmann told CNBC that family offices believe "owning companies, getting exposure to themes and selecting the right companies are the long-term road to generating additional value" (CNBC). For an owner weighing a sale, that suggests family offices belong on the list of potential buyers alongside strategic acquirers and buyout funds.

Selective buyers with small teams

None of this means the money is easy. The share of Citi respondents reporting direct deals in the prior year slipped from 77% to 70%, though Hofmann said shifts in who answered the survey might explain that drop (CNBC). A net 15% were bullish on direct private equity, compared with 36% in 2024 (CNBC). Family offices also showed less interest in seed and other early-stage rounds while their preference for growth-stage deals held steady, and Hofmann said they are narrowing their sector focus and favoring companies able to attract larger rounds (CNBC).

Citi's 2026 report says family offices are growing "more selective with a greater emphasis on sourcing, expertise and differentiated access" and adds that "connectivity has emerged as a competitive advantage" (Citi Private Bank). BNY found that growth equity was the top private market priority for the coming year, named by 48% of respondents (BNY Wealth).

The teams doing this work are small. Goldman's survey of 245 respondents found investment teams typically have fewer than five people (Goldman Sachs), and BNY reports that 58% of the offices it surveyed employ fewer than 20 people in total (BNY Wealth). Among U.S. offices, 44% named understaffing as a key challenge in direct investing, an 83% rise from the prior year, and BNY recorded a 120% jump in U.S. offices looking for outside help with direct deal sourcing (BNY Wealth). The report points to co-investing alongside a general partner, who can source deals, support diligence and structure transactions, as one way family offices fill that gap (BNY Wealth).

What founders should do with this

First, treat family offices as their own category of capital, not a smaller version of private equity. The evidence above points to investors with long horizons, operating experience and a stated interest in owning companies, which is a different conversation from a fund working to a fixed exit timeline. If you are planning a growth raise or a partial sale, it is worth asking your advisers which family offices are active in your sector.

Second, expect access to run through networks. With lean teams, and with Citi saying family offices are putting more emphasis on sourcing and that connectivity has become a competitive advantage, our reading is that many family offices will meet companies through general partners, bankers and peers they already trust rather than through cold outreach. A founder who already has relationships with private equity sponsors may find those firms are the route to family office co-investors.

Third, lead with alignment, not only with a growth model. BNY recorded a 52% increase in family offices citing "alignment of interests" as a consideration in direct deals (BNY Wealth). Be ready to explain governance, values and how you see the company in ten years, because a long-hold investor will be living with those answers.

Fourth, make diligence easy for a small team. A clean data room and clear reporting reduce the burden on an office that may have only a handful of investment professionals, and that may matter more here than it would with a large fund staff.

Finally, consider succession on both sides. Citi's 2026 report says roughly one-third of respondents anticipate a change of leadership at the family, its office or its company within five years (Citi Private Bank). An owner thinking about his or her own succession may find that a family office understands that problem from the inside, and that shared experience can be a real asset in structuring a deal that outlasts its founder.