Key Takeaways
- • 31% of U.S. entrepreneurs surveyed in UBS's Global Entrepreneur Report 2025 plan to establish their own family office, signaling a structural shift in how successful founders manage wealth post-liquidity events.
- • Family offices are transitioning from traditional wealth preservation vehicles to active venture capital investors, creating new dynamics that venture capitalists must account for in deal sourcing and portfolio construction.
- • Today's exiting entrepreneurs are younger and more operationally oriented than historical cohorts, viewing exits as launching pads for continued value creation rather than retirement events.
- • Post-liquidity founders leverage their human capital and proven business-building acumen to scale multiple ventures through family office structures, using the entity as a strategic investment conduit.
Summary
Family offices are undergoing a fundamental transformation from passive wealth preservation institutions to aggressive value-creation vehicles, driven by a new generation of entrepreneurs approaching liquidity events with fundamentally different objectives. According to UBS's Global Entrepreneur Report 2025, nearly one-third of U.S. entrepreneurs (31%) plan to establish their own family office, reflecting a structural shift in how successful founders intend to deploy capital post-exit.
The shift stems from demographic and behavioral changes in entrepreneurial demographics. As Mark Tepsich, Family Office Design and Governance Strategist at UBS Family Office Solutions, explains, today's entrepreneurs exiting companies are materially younger than previous generations and retain strong builder instincts. Rather than viewing a liquidity event as a terminal wealth event triggering retirement, these founders see their exits as inflection points enabling them to scale their operational expertise across multiple ventures. "Being that these entrepreneurs are builders, they want to continue building and creating. The family office can be the conduit through which they now make things happen," Tepsich notes.
Benjamin Cavalli, Head of Strategic Clients at UBS Global Wealth Management, characterizes this as entrepreneurs' desire to "manage their wealth strategically" through family office structures. The mechanism is straightforward: founders who have accumulated human capital—proven ability to build successful companies—can redeploy that expertise across a portfolio of ventures with family office capital as the vehicle. This represents a departure from traditional family office models, which historically prioritized capital preservation and risk minimization.
The implications for the venture capital ecosystem are material. As family offices increasingly operate as sophisticated, patient capital providers with operational support capabilities, they compete directly with traditional venture firms while offering advantages in deal duration, values alignment, and long-term support for portfolio companies. This transition creates both opportunity and competitive pressure for venture capitalists managing deal flow and portfolio strategy.
The shift stems from demographic and behavioral changes in entrepreneurial demographics. As Mark Tepsich, Family Office Design and Governance Strategist at UBS Family Office Solutions, explains, today's entrepreneurs exiting companies are materially younger than previous generations and retain strong builder instincts. Rather than viewing a liquidity event as a terminal wealth event triggering retirement, these founders see their exits as inflection points enabling them to scale their operational expertise across multiple ventures. "Being that these entrepreneurs are builders, they want to continue building and creating. The family office can be the conduit through which they now make things happen," Tepsich notes.
Benjamin Cavalli, Head of Strategic Clients at UBS Global Wealth Management, characterizes this as entrepreneurs' desire to "manage their wealth strategically" through family office structures. The mechanism is straightforward: founders who have accumulated human capital—proven ability to build successful companies—can redeploy that expertise across a portfolio of ventures with family office capital as the vehicle. This represents a departure from traditional family office models, which historically prioritized capital preservation and risk minimization.
The implications for the venture capital ecosystem are material. As family offices increasingly operate as sophisticated, patient capital providers with operational support capabilities, they compete directly with traditional venture firms while offering advantages in deal duration, values alignment, and long-term support for portfolio companies. This transition creates both opportunity and competitive pressure for venture capitalists managing deal flow and portfolio strategy.
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