By Futurist Thomas Frey
The Power Structure Nobody’s Watching
By 2040, family offices will control an estimated $15-20 trillion in assets—more than the GDP of every country except the United States and China. These private wealth management firms serve ultra-high-net-worth families, operating with minimal oversight, maximum secrecy, and influence that shapes markets, politics, and societies without public accountability. And most people have never heard of them.
Family offices aren’t new—they’ve existed since the Rockefellers and Rothschilds needed organizations to manage fortunes too vast for traditional wealth management. But what started as exclusive institutions for a few dozen dynastic families has exploded into thousands of operations managing wealth that dwarfs small nations. They’re becoming shadow governments with more resources than most countries and fewer constraints than any corporation.
Should we be afraid? That depends on whether you think concentrated wealth operating through opaque private institutions with no public oversight represents a threat to democratic governance, market fairness, and social stability. Spoiler: it probably should concern you.
Continue reading… “The Shadow Governments of Wealth: When Family Offices Control More Than Most Countries”
