Family office direct investment activity picked up slightly in May, with Dakota Marketplace tracking 53 deals worldwide in which family offices invested, as compared to 51 deals in April. The value of these transactions totaled $79.44B, a sharp increase from $2.86B last month, though that figure was driven predominantly by Anthropic's $65B Series H funding round, which gave the AI company a post-money valuation of $965B, surpassing ChatGPT maker OpenAI. ICONIQ Capital was among the lead investors in the round.
The broader push toward direct investing is not slowing down, according to one industry observer. "Unequivocally, there's a huge push towards more direct investment, and that is going to continue," Hendrik Jordaan, a partner and global co-chair of the Family Office Investment Transactions Group at Nelson Mullins, told Dakota News. "Family offices have built out highly sophisticated, private equity-like investment teams that take the best practices from how PE sources deals, underwrites deals, develops execution plans, and manages assets — and they're doing so with an unfair competitive advantage." Jordaan pointed to structural flexibility as a key edge. "A family office can say, 'We're not bound by a time horizon. If the economy hits a hiccup in year four, no big deal — we can wait another three, five, ten years and figure out the right time to exit.'"
Family Office Transactions in May
Family offices focused heavily on sports bets in May, backing deals ranging from professional sports franchises to pickleball and women's sports media.
Michael Dell, chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies, was part of an investor group acquiring a 25.3% stake in the NFL's Las Vegas Raiders. The deal, which was expected to close before the end of May, valued the franchise at roughly $9.9B, according to media reports. The group was led by Egon Durban, managing partner and co-CEO of Silver Lake, who already held an 11% stake in the team.
Apollo Sports Capital, the sports investment platform of Apollo, led a $225M investment in Pickleball Inc., the parent company of the Carvana PPA Tour and Major League Pickleball, with participation from Dundon Capital Partners, the private investment firm of billionaire Tom Dundon. The investment valued Pickleball Inc. at $750M, according to CNBC. Dundon, who previously served as CEO of Dallas-based consumer finance company Santander Consumer USA, is no stranger to sports investing, owning the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes and holding a stake in the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers.
Sports assets' all-weather performance across market cycles and overall scarcity value make them attractive investments, according to Jordaan. "The sports vertical is very interesting, not only for family offices but obviously for private equity as well," he said. "It's quite countercyclical — people support their sports teams through the good and the bad. And in many sports verticals, you've got a finite supply of teams and assets. If you can get locked into an asset that appreciates over time with a regulatory moat around [it], where it's very difficult for somebody else to come in and launch a new NFL team or a new NBA team ... [that] makes it quite interesting."
He also flagged the convergence of sports and real estate as a compelling draw. "There's a huge bleeding of the lines between real estate and sports, where sports and entertainment is used as an anchor to develop stadiums, in-person venues, and then really building out the housing, the shopping, the real estate products around an iconic sports venue." Jordaan cited the Anschutz family's AEG and its development of sports and entertainment district LA Live in downtown Los Angeles as an example of the model.
In other sports investment activity, Bolt Ventures, the family office of David Blitzer, led a reportedly seven-figure investment in women's sports media company Just Women's Sports, with Starry Eyed Tomorrow, the investment vehicle of Gotham FC minority owners Bobby and HyeMi Cho, also participating. Bolt Ventures also co-led a $12M Series A in wearable athlete performance tracking company PlayerData alongside Darco Capital, the family office of David Adelman, and Pentland Ventures. 35V, the family office of two-time NBA champion Kevin Durant, also joined the funding round.
Investments by Sector
While family offices may have invested more heavily in sports during the month, the Information Technology sector continued to dominate deal activity, recording 15 deals in May.
"Technology is just a really compelling vertical, broadly defined — whether it's unique components of data centers or AI," Jordaan said. It's also a highly competitive space, where the speed with which family offices can move plays to their advantage. "Most people think of family offices as being slow to move, and in some cases they are, but the inverse is also true," he said, adding that this can provide them a "competitive advantage in competitive deals."
The month's largest deal was the $65B Series H round for Anthropic, which saw participation from ICONIQ and other investors including Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer, Greenoaks, and Sequoia Capital. ICONIQ also backed defense technology company Anduril Industries in its $5B Series H and joined Sierra Technologies' $950M Series E financing, making it the most active family office by disclosed deals in May. The firm also participated in payments infrastructure startup Primer's $100M Series C alongside lead investor Sofina.
Family Office Transactions in May
Notable May Deals
Dubai Holding, the investment vehicle of Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, acquired a 22.27% stake in Emaar Properties from the Investment Corporation of Dubai in a transaction worth $6.5B. It was the second-largest deal of the month. Emaar is the famed developer behind some of Dubai's most iconic landmarks, including the Burj Khalifa and the Dubai Mall.
Yamauchi No. 10 Family Office, the investment vehicle of the family behind Nintendo, joined a $300M funding round for AI research lab Decart. Thiel Capital and Foris Ventures participated in a $140M Series B for Panthalassa, a Portland, OR-based renewable energy and ocean technology company developing floating systems that generate power from ocean waves to run AI computing infrastructure at sea.
Other notable deals during the month include Allen Family Digital, an affiliate of Byron Allen's family office, taking a majority stake in BuzzFeed for $120M, with Allen assuming the CEO and chairman roles. Lupa Systems, the media and technology holding company of James Murdoch, agreed to acquire New York Magazine, the Vox Media Podcast Network, and Vox from Vox Media in a deal the New York Times reported valued at more than $300M.
Top 10 Family Office Transactions in May 2026
Family Office Spotlight
Builders Vision is a Chicago-based investment and philanthropy platform founded by Lukas Walton, a grandson of Walmart founder Sam Walton and son of the late John Walton. Lukas inherited his wealth following his father's death in a plane crash in 2005, and today his net worth is tied primarily to his Walmart stake. His passion for sustainability was shaped in part by a rare cancer diagnosis at age three. After he did not respond to chemotherapy, his parents shifted the family's diet to all-natural foods, which he credits as contributing to his recovery, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He studied environmental science and economics at Colorado College and later studied energy efficiency and hydrological and geothermal energy in Reykjavik, Iceland. In addition to leading Builders Vision, he serves as chair of the Environmental Committee of the Walton Family Foundation and chair of the Walton Conservation Coalition.
In May, Builders Vision backed two companies in line with its mandate. It participated in an oversubscribed Series A for CREW Carbon, a water technology company whose system integrates into existing wastewater treatment infrastructure to improve plant performance and permanently remove carbon dioxide. The raise comprised $19M in equity and $6M in grants and non-dilutive funding.
Builders Vision also led a $14M round for ECOncrete, a company that produces bio-enhancing concrete designed to support marine biodiversity in coastal, port, and offshore infrastructure. Other investors in the ECOncrete round included Barclays Climate Ventures, the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation's ReOcean Fund, and BDT & MSD Partners.
Recent Investments
Key Research & Decision-Making Contacts
- Lukas Walton serves as executive chairman and founder of Builders Vision.
- CIO Noelle Laing has been with the firm for more than four years. She was promoted to the CIO role in January 2025, consolidating Builders Vision's investment strategies into a single practice overseeing a combined team of nearly 30 investors. She previously served as CIO of Builders Initiative, where she managed the foundation's $1.7B endowment. She holds a bachelor's degree with honors in mathematics from St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY.
- Jamey Spencer is managing director and head of private markets, overseeing Builders Vision's market-rate private investment efforts across strategy development, investing, and portfolio management. He joined from Pathstone, where he was a managing director and shareholder advising multigenerational families and charitable endowments. Spencer started his career in energy M&A at JP Morgan.
- Vice President of Investments Ben Huang manages private fund investments, co-investments, and select direct investments at Builders Vision, focused on identifying best-in-class managers. Before joining the firm, he was a senior finance manager at Landing, a Series C proptech firm, and prior to that a senior investment associate at ICONIQ Capital.
Dakota Family Office Deal Tracker is a monthly publication covering direct investment activity by family offices globally, sourced from Dakota Marketplace data. Have a question or want to share a tip? Reach out to Editor Tayyeba Irum at tirum@dakota.com.
