The origins of modern family offices date back to the 1500s

The Rockefellers' family office expanded to become a multifamily office

The Rockefellers created the first known single-family office in the late 1800s but the firm has evolved since to serve many wealthy American families.

More than half of today’s family offices were incorporated after 2010

Family offices are impacting capital markets as private wealth grows. Compared to other financial entities, they have a relatively high allocation to alternatives.

Family offices have a median of $476M in managed assets

There are several types of family offices that cater to ultra-high net worth individuals, starting with single-family offices that cost an average of $3.2M annually.

It’s estimated there are 10,000 single-family and 5,000 multifamily offices globally

Family offices are expanding around the world at a rapid pace, impacting the wider financial landscape.

Large family offices often employ 25 to 40 people

The structure of a family office varies depending on its size and its needs, and can employ a range of workers from top executives to assistants and tax professionals.

Family offices are estimated to manage more assets globally than hedge funds

As baby boomers prepare to transfer more than $84T in assets to the next generation over the next 20 years, family offices’ impact is expanding.

The average pay for family office executives has soared

As the number of family offices grows, they’re battling for top talent with traditional financial institutions by bulking up pay and incentive packages.

A timeline of the Rockefeller family

The Rockefeller family timeline (as it relates to the business world, at least) starts in 1839 with John D. Rockefeller’s birth. In the nearly 200 years since, his offspring have gotten involved in everything from the Watergate scandal to the McCormick & Company spice business.

History’s largest intergenerational wealth transfer is happening in the next few decades

The founder of a multifamily office firm offers lessons on how to preserve wealth for generations from a global perspective, like educating younger family members.

The first private equity fund was launched in 1960

At the time, the industry—and the public's understanding of it—was rather limited, and few private equity firms existed until the 1980s. The first leveraged buyout is thought to have taken place in 1955.

America’s richest families

You could probably name a few of America's richest people, like Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg, for instance. But could you name the richest families in America, like the Waltons or the Mars family? Explore the list of 2024's richest families in America—and find out how they made their money—here.

Financial advice from America’s founding fathers

Several of America's founding fathers—Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton—espoused various financial platitudes during their lives. According to the financial publication Kiplinger, much of their advice holds up in modern times. This article rounds up a few wise words from the founding fathers (and even one first lady) about compound interest, taxes, and education. For money-management tips from America's early days, click here.

Wall Street has come a long way since the 1600s

Wall Street originated as part of a Dutch settlement and soon became the nation's financial hub. But Wall Street has since morphed into eight blocks of luxury gyms and apartments.

Modern consulting traces its roots to 1886

Arthur D. Little Inc. was the first management consulting firm. Starting as a chemical analysis lab, the firm evolved to play pivotal roles in projects like developing the NASDAQ system and supporting Apollo 11.

The Lauder family still owns more than 80% of Estée Lauder Companies

When Estée Lauder went public in 1995, the company implemented a dual-class stock structure to retain family ownership of the company. Alongside owning a majority of the stock, almost everyone in the family also works within the company, leading to the family's reputation as a cosmetic dynasty.

Get to know the five families that ran the NYC mafia

In the 1900s, there were five families in New York City who dominated the crime scene. These five families organized expansive criminal operations—ranging from prostitution and price extortion to money laundering—and have inspired stories like "The Godfather."

For much of human history, homeownership was primarily associated with the elite

Before the Industrial Revolution, early mortgages were rather exclusive loans given only to nobility. But as more people gained more wealth through the Industrial Revolution, banks began to take on “higher-risk” loans to everyday people.

In 1924, the department store Marshall Field's invented the first modern 'wedding registry'

However, there were many traditions around wedding gifts before the wedding registry was invented, too—from dowries to marriage chests. Read about the history of the wedding registry in this article.

Personal computers became more common in the late 1970s, making working from home more viable

As the internet and email became more popular in the 1990s, more infrastructure that would eventually support remote work was created. But the practice was still relatively uncommon until the COVID-19 pandemic, when white-collar workers first took to working from home en masse.

The power and influence of the American presidency have expanded significantly over time—far beyond what the founders envisioned.

LVMH's history can be traced back to 1854, the year Louis Vuitton was started

Louis Vuitton was founded by a craftsman's apprentice who specialized in trunk-making. Since its merger with Moët Hennessy in 1987, which created LVMH, the conglomerate has been considered a powerhouse in the business world. "I would argue that next to Apple, no other company on the planet dominates their industry as completely as LVMH," one financial expert said.

The bond market dates back to the 1100s in Venice

In the early 1800s, bonds were used to fund US railroads and canals in Great Britain. “Liberty Bonds” were sold during both World Wars in the 20th century. Learning about the early and modern history of bonds can offer a glimpse into how the modern bond market came to be.

Robber barons, the monopolistic business people of the 19th century, explained

“Robber baron” was a term used to describe 19th-century businesspeople who engaged in monopolistic business practices and didn’t face much business regulation, resulting in significant wealth.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

1440 Explores: The Evolution of the US Presidency

1440 traces how the presidency transformed from the limited office envisioned by the Founders into today's powerful institution—examining how presidents like FDR and Nixon reshaped executive authority.

The full story of WeWork, one of the most dramatic startup journeys of all time

WeWork has been through a lot since the office space company was founded as a startup in 2010. From its failed IPO in 2019, to the various leadership antics of its founder, Adam Neumann (some have claimed that he acted like a cult leader at times), to how it navigated remote work trends during the pandemic, this video tells the full story of WeWork's growth, failures, and more.

Concierge medicine officially began in 1996, with the first concierge practice

MD2 International, a concierge medical office that opened in Seattle, Washington, was founded based on the idea of unrushed, no-wait-time visits and personalized care offerings with strong relationships between patients and their providers.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

Frank Lloyd Wright's houses are historically hard to sell because they're old, subject to local landmark commissions, and often unfashionable

The idea for the Federal Reserve was conceived in secret in 1910—with bankers donning duck hunt gear for disguise while traveling to a remote country club on Georgia's Jekyll Island

Watch this video that uses Lego bricks to explain how venture capital works.

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

See the most iconic photos from four decades of LIFE magazine

Use this tool to calculate the dollar value of your parental mental load, from meal planning to coordinating after-school care, then see resources that help generate solutions.

The first line of 'immortal' human cells, which can divide indefinitely and are used in scientific research, was nonconsensually taken from a Black woman.

Budweiser stores yeast derived from the original 1800s strain in a secret bunker, which only the Head of Yeast Management can access—not even the CEO

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

See how each of the more than two million known species relates to each other—and to common ancestors—in this zoomable tree of life.

Graffiti dates back to at least ancient Pompeii, where citizens scrawled messages to one another on public walls

The distributor behind 'Rocky Horror' pulled the film from its scheduled national release, believing it would be a failure, though it eventually amassed a dedicated fanbase through midnight showings, a trend that continues over 50 years later.

The hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

Apeirophobia is an overwhelming fear of living forever, perhaps stemming from the brain's inability to conceptualize an infinite life.

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

The first robot in literature may have been a 'mechanical man' in 1907's 'Ozma of Oz,' a book in L Frank Baum's 'Wizard of Oz' series.

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.

The word 'jazz' evolved from 'jasm,' 19th-century American slang for 'energy'