Rockefeller Capital is backed by Mousse Partners

Rockefeller Capital Management, the wealth manager born out of John D. Rockefeller’s family office, has raised new money from investment firms affiliated with other ultra-rich families, CNBC has learned.

On Tuesday, Rockefeller plans to announce the financing and its new valuation of $6.6 billion, up from $3 billion in 2023. Terms of the recapitalization, which traditionally uses equity or debt to fund growth, bolster the balance sheet, or provide liquidity to investors, were not disclosed.

The recapitalization was led by Mousse Partners, the family office of Chanel’s owners. Progeny 3, a company based in Kirkland, Washington, built a fortune in shipping; and Abrams Capital, the hedge fund manager founded by David Abrams, a disciple of Seth Klarman of the Baupost Group.

The Rockefeller family still owns a minority stake in the company, having transferred some of its shares from the previous family office to Rockefeller when it was formed in 2018 with assets of just $18 billion. The company now manages $187 billion in assets, most of it through its global family offices division. Rockefeller also has asset management and investment banking divisions.

With the deal, which is expected to close by the end of 2025, hedge fund and founding backer Viking Global Investors will no longer be the majority shareholder in the company, but will still own the majority stake.

Rockefeller CEO Greg Fleming told CNBC in an interview that the new investors are emblematic of the high-net-worth entrepreneurial clients the company is targeting. Rockefeller typically serves clients with assets ranging from $25 million to $100 million. With the new funding, he said, the company plans to reach more American business owners by hiring more advisors in existing markets including Boston and Houston and new markets such as Miami and Minneapolis.

“Our new families investing here have created wealth by building businesses,” Fleming said. “In America 4 [million] Up to 5 million new projects are created and developed every year.”

He added that Rockefeller is also looking to tap into global wealth by partnering with local wealth advisory firms, most likely in Singapore and the Middle East.

“The Rockefeller brand is a global brand, it’s an iconic brand,” he said, referring to the Standard Oil family’s philanthropic efforts abroad, such as founding a hospital in Beijing more than a century ago. “This is another lever for growth. And the slingshot we get from this deal will allow us to go after it.”

Negotiations over financing began in earnest last summer, Fleming said. The patient capital of family offices, which can withstand investment for decades or even generations, was a good fit for the company’s long-term vision, he said. The Desmarais family, one of Canada’s richest families, invested $622 million in Rockefeller in 2023 through its financial services group, Power Corporation of Canada.

“They know that if you’re going to build something excellent it’s going to take time, and they look for investments that thrive over the long term,” Fleming said of family office investors.

Mousse Partners, the family office of Chanel owners Alain and Gerard Wertheimer, is known for its consumer bets such as clean beauty brand Beautycounter, recently rebranded as Counter, and luxury fashion brand The Row. However, Mousse Partners has invested in financial services before, having backed the private takeover of Rothschild & Co. Along with the bank family of the same name and the families behind Peugeot and Dassault.

Family offices view wealth management as a growing business with stable fee-based revenues, Fleming said. He added that the company is also poised to grow during a major wealth transfer, with $124 trillion expected to pass by 2048 according to Cerulli Associates estimates.

“If you focus on the customer first, and do a really good job, you can do more and more for existing customers and bring in more and more new customers,” he said.

The lofty expectations of wealthy clients also play into the company’s favor, he said, as they increasingly expect a wide range of services from direct investment advice to philanthropic education and a seamless technology interface.

“It is a company that needs a lot of investment, especially in 2025, to be able to create the capabilities to serve these high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth families,” he said. “It is sophisticated.” “It’s very difficult to do.”