Key points
- According to Fintrx, the billionaire family offices inked high -level investments in a different month for the conclusion of transactions.
- Private investment companies of four billionaires have joined a fundraising of $ 863 million for a nuclear merger startup.
- Peter Thiel, a long -standing investor in defense technology, supported a German drone manufacturer while other high shuttle investors flock to the sector.
A version of this article appeared for the first time in Inside Wealth Newsletter of CNBC with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the investor and consumer with high shuttle. Register to receive future editions, directly in your reception box. For ultra -rich investment companies, the conclusion of transactions remained stable in August. Family offices made 47 direct investments in companies, almost stable compared to 48 July, according to data supplied exclusively to CNBC by FINTRX. The pricing anxieties continue to weigh on the conclusion of family affairs, which flowed in August by almost 50% on one year on the other, according to the Private Wealth Intelligence Platform. That said, the family offices of the richest people in the world were released in August. The companies of the former CEO of Google, Eric Schmidt, the billionaire of Etanley Druckenmiller heaters and the Philanthrope Laurene Powell Jobs joined a fundraising of $ 863 million for the Commonwealth Fusion Systems. Bill Gates’s venture capital company, Gates Frontier, was also an investor in the B2 series of the B2 series of the nuclear startup. Although transactions are down, nuclear energy companies are attractive to family offices that seek to draw from the boom of artificial intelligence, which will require enormous power. Powell Jobs Collective Emerson was also part of a fundraising of $ 314 million for the Robotic Startup Fieldai. The office of the homonymous family of Jeff Bezos has co-directed the round for the startup based in Irvine, California, which allows robots to learn and navigate physical environments such as construction sites. In August, the billionaire of Silicon Valley, Peter Thiel, joined a collection of funds of $ 62 million for Stark, a German weapon drone developer. His family office, Thiel Capital, supported Quantum Systems, another manufacturer of German drones, for at least 2022. Thiel has a long experience of financing defense technology companies through Thiel Capital and Founders Fund, the venture capital company he directs, notably Andundil de Palmer Luckey. He also co -founded the manufacturer of controversial software from AI Palantant who has contracts with immigrants and customs, the American army and the internal returned service. “AI is a military technology,” wrote Thiel in an editorial of the New York Times in 2019. “Forget the fantasy of science fiction; what is powerful about the existing AI is its application to relatively banal tasks such as computer vision and data analysis.” Six years later, deeper investors have warmed up for technological defense startups. Formerly avoided by investors who have been attracted by an environmental, social and governance lens, defense assets have increased in popularity in the light of geopolitical disorders and the promises of Germany and other members of the European Union to increase defense spending. In June, the venture capital company of the founder of Spotify, Daniel Ek, led a round of 600 million euros (698.96 million dollars) for the defense technology company founded on Munich Helsing. Last month, the Holding Company of the billionaire family behind Volkswagen and Porsche announced that it was looking for co-investors for a venture capital fund dedicated to European defense startups. To this end, Porsche shared plans to organize a “Day Day” networking event for European and German family offices. The venture capital investment in Defense Tech reached $ 19.1 billion in the second quarter of 2025, an annual increase of 200%, according to Pitchbook.