A History of Family Offices
January 18, 2013 9:21 AM
A History of Family Offices
These often-reclusive businesses manage the finances of Americas affluent and occasionally compete with banks for clients and employees. These offices have interesting back stories. (Image: Thinkstock)
Okabena Co., Minneapolis
The family office was created four decades ago to manage the finances of the Dayton family, which founded the predecessor to retailer Target in 1902. (Image: Bloomberg News)
Capricorn Investment Group, Palo Alto, Calif.
Capricorn was formed to manage the investments of eBay founder Jeffrey Skoll. It is also an affiliate of Participant Productions, which was involved with the films Syriana and An Inconvenient Truth.
Market Street Trust, Corning, N.Y.
The Houghton family, which traces its wealth to the Corning glass company, runs this financial firm. The family office adopted its current name in 1987. (Image: Bloomberg News)
Piedmont Trust, Greensboro, N.C.
This company manages the finances for the Richardson family, which sold the rights to Vicks Vapo-Rub, NyQuil and other products to Johnson & Johnson in the 1980s. (Image:Fotolia)
Pritzker Organization, Chicago
The family behind this office made their fortune from the Hyatt Hotels chain. A family feud broke out a decade ago, leading number of family members to reportedly leave the firm. (Image: Bloomberg News)
Dillon Trust, New York
Clarence Dillon and William Read ran an investment bank in the early 1900s that eventually became Dillon, Read (now part of UBS Warburg). Dillon Trust manages the financial affairs of Dillons descendants. (Image:Fotolia)
EHR Investments, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
EHR manages the finances of the Remmer family. The late Eugene Remmer founded Chemtex, an engineering company that specialized in designing plants that make synthetic fibers, in the 1950s. (Image:Fotolia)
Interlaken Management, Wilton, Conn.
S. Daniel Abraham launched Slim-Fast in the 1970s. His familys financial affairs are handled by Interlaken. (Image: Bloomberg News)
Pitcairn, Jenkintown, Pa.
John Pitcairn co-founded a predecessor to manufacturing conglomerate PPG Industries. His familys office began accepting outside clients in the 1980s. (Image:Fotolia)
