The Rise of Family Offices and Their Growing Role in Philanthropy

Family offices are becoming increasingly influential in how the ultra-wealthy manage their wealth and give back to society.

Published on Feb. 26, 2026

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A growing number of billionaires and centimillionaires are establishing family offices to manage their legacy goals and charitable donations. Family offices now manage over $1.7 trillion in assets in the U.S. and are playing a key role in the philanthropic landscape, with nearly 90% making donations through their family offices. While family offices were originally designed to help titans of industry protect their wealth, their role has evolved to include everything from managing luxury assets to legal issues and philanthropy. Family offices are also becoming more strategic in their approach to giving, leveraging various tools like impact investing and advocacy in addition to traditional grantmaking.

Why it matters

The rise of family offices highlights the increasing concentration of wealth and power among the ultra-rich. While family offices can help facilitate more strategic and coordinated philanthropy, they also operate with less transparency than public charities, raising concerns about the outsized influence wealthy families can wield through their philanthropic giving.

The details

Family offices are private firms that serve ultra-high-net-worth families, handling everything from investments and accounting to managing real estate, sports teams, and philanthropy. There are an estimated 6,000 to 8,000 family offices in the U.S. now, with the average individual family office managing $1.5 billion in assets. Nearly 90% of family offices make philanthropic donations, and some are taking a more sophisticated approach, using tools like impact investing and advocacy in addition to traditional grantmaking. Family offices are also playing a key role in passing wealth to the next generation, with almost half of U.S. family offices already managing three generations of wealth.

  • The J.P. Morgan family coined the term 'family office' in 1838.
  • By the end of the 20th century, more wealthy people were establishing family offices.
  • In the 1990s, family offices were very business-centric, but in the 2000s they began to focus more on representing the family and its legacy.
  • In the past few years, the amount of money held by the private foundations of the uber-rich has begun to dwarf the endowments of even the largest legacy foundations.

The players

Katherine Pease

Leads philanthropic advising services at Pathstone, an investment advisory firm serving families, family offices, foundations and endowments.

Sara Hamilton

Founder of the Family Office Exchange, a Chicago-based membership organization that has been serving family offices for 36 years and currently advises more than 4,000 family members and family office staff from more than 300 predominantly U.S.-based families.

Dana Shalit

Cofounder and chief impact officer of the philanthropy 'architecture and impact' consultancy House of Impact, which focuses on next-generation 'wealth stewards.'

Sergey Brin

His giving is an example of philanthropy routed through a family office, in his case, Bayshore Global Management.

Laura and John Arnold

Their family office is an example of one that has said 'We are going to use all these tools in the toolbox' for greater philanthropic impact.

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What they’re saying

“The family office, when done well, is about understanding all the priorities of a family and working holistically to help them figure out how to design a strategy and plan for achieving those priorities.”

— Katherine Pease, Leads philanthropic advising services at Pathstone (insidephilanthropy.com)

“In the '90s, it was very business-centric. Then, in the 2000s, family offices began to be representatives of the family, not just the business, and to really carry the voice of the family and the stewardship of the family's legacy.”

— Sara Hamilton, Founder of the Family Office Exchange (insidephilanthropy.com)

“People really care about connecting with what they are giving to and knowing they are moving the needle forward. The next-gen wealth stewards are looking for a deeper connection between their giving and their impact and their legacy.”

— Dana Shalit, Cofounder and chief impact officer of House of Impact (insidephilanthropy.com)

What’s next

The article does not mention any definite and predictable future newsworthy moments, so this section is left blank.

The takeaway

The rise of family offices highlights the growing concentration of wealth and power among the ultra-rich, as well as the increasing sophistication of how the wealthy are approaching philanthropy. While family offices can facilitate more strategic and coordinated giving, their opacity raises concerns about the outsized influence wealthy families can wield through their philanthropic activities.