Rockefeller Capital secures backing from Mousse Partners

According to information obtained by CNBC, Rockefeller Capital Management, the asset manager born from the family office of John D. Rockefeller, has raised new funds from the investment firms of other ultra-rich families.

On Tuesday, Rockefeller plans to announce financing and a new valuation of $6.6 billion, up from $3 billion in 2023. Terms of the recapitalization, which traditionally uses equity or debt to finance growth, strengthen 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 trucking company based in Kirkland, Washington; and Abrams Capital, the hedge fund manager founded by David Abrams, a protégé of Baupost Group’s Seth Klarman.

The Rockefeller family still holds a minority stake in the firm, which transferred some of its equity from the former family office to Rockefeller when it was founded in 2018 with just $18 billion in assets. The firm currently manages $187 billion in assets, mostly through its global family office division. Rockefeller also has asset management and investment banking divisions.

With the transaction expected to be completed by the end of 2025, the hedge fund and its founding backer Viking Global Investors will no longer be the majority shareholder of the company, but will continue to own the largest share.

Rockefeller CEO Greg Fleming told CNBC in an interview that the new investors are emblematic of the entrepreneurial, high-net-worth clients the firm targets. Rockefeller typically serves clients with assets between $25 million and $100 million. He said with the new financing, the firm plans to reach more American business owners by hiring more advisors in existing markets such as Boston and Houston, as well as new markets such as Miami and Minneapolis.

“Our new families who invested here created wealth by starting businesses,” Fleming said. “4 in America [million] “Up to 5 million new businesses are founded and developed every year.”

Rockefeller is also looking to tap into international wealth, possibly by partnering with local wealth advisory firms in Singapore and the Middle East, he said.

“The Rockefeller brand is a global brand, an iconic brand,” he said, noting the Standard Oil family’s philanthropic efforts abroad, such as establishing a hospital in Beijing more than a century ago. “This is another growth vehicle. The slingshot we get from this transaction will allow us to pursue this.”

Negotiations for financing began in earnest last summer, Fleming said. He said family offices’ patient capital, which can afford to invest over decades or even generations, is well suited to the firm’s long-term vision. The Desmarais family, one of Canada’s richest people, invested $622 million in Rockefeller in 2023 through the financial services holding Power Corporation of Canada.

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

Mousse Partners, the family office of Chanel owners Alain and Gérard Wertheimer, is known for 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, backing the bank’s eponymous family and the families behind Peugeot and Dassault, as well as the private takeover of Rothschild & Co.

Family offices view wealth management as a growing business with stable fee-based income, Fleming said. He added that the firm is also poised to grow during the massive wealth transfer, with $124 trillion expected to be transferred by 2048, according to Cerulli Associates’ estimate.

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

The high expectations of ultra-wealthy clients also work in the firm’s favor, he said, because they expect a wide range of services, from direct investment advice to philanthropic education and a seamless technology interface.

“This is a business where a lot of investment is needed, especially in 2025, to be able to create the talent to serve these high-net-worth and ultra-net-worth families. They’re sophisticated,” he said. “That’s pretty hard to do.”