The Faceless Organisations Running The World

The world is being run by faceless organisations or as we know them, Family Offices. These are small and intimate entities that manage the personal and financial interests of extraordinarily wealthy families. Wealth that runs the world.

Faceless organisations have overtaken Bankers as Masters of the Universe, they are the single largest collection of investors in the world and despite this, they remain largely unknown. They have no websites, no social media presence and no following. They aspire to stay out of the news, not spoken about and almost entirely undiscoverable.

Right now, these faceless organisations are also saving the world and the ordinary person would have absolutely no idea.

During the early stages of the pandemic, household names and their owners donated to the cause in the billions. We witnessed Forbes 500 companies, footballers and celebrities diverting production lines to meet the demand for ventilators, transforming hotels into quarantine stations and offering second homes as accommodation for frontline workers.

Singers donated proceeds, social media giants donated their profits and the ordinary person clubbed together to give whatever they could to whomever they could. What you would not have seen however are these faceless organisations and the unbelievable part they played in the recovery of the virus. You might have also missed the fact that they created the world’s first coronavirus vaccine. A vaccine had by millions across the UK and USA to date.

US Pharmaceutical company Pfizer

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and German Immunotherapy Company, BioNTech created the first verified vaccine against COVID-19 last autumn. While the world celebrated husband and wife duo Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci, Agreus uncovered that behind the brilliant scientists sat two brothers in a Single Family Office in Munich.

Andreas and Thomas Strüngmann and their Single Family Office, Athos Service GmbH, control 50.33% of BioNTech through investment. They have significantly funded the company for some years and the pandemic was the perfect opportunity for it to come to fruition.

BioNTech was listed on Nasdaq

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with a market cap on November 9th, 2020 of $25.3BN, valuing Athos Services stake at $12.73BN. But while the world focused on the science, the story showed Family Offices the pivotal role they could play in early-stage science ventures. It also offered the world a glimpse into the power of faceless organisations.

Looking towards the everyday and you can find a faceless organisation wherever you go. From the makers of the car you drive to the owners of the supermarket you shop in; faceless organisations are running the world from a small Family Office and a team of five.

50% of Family Offices in the UK and 55% of Family Offices in the US have less than nine employees while the majority have less than five. The professionals who work for these faceless organisations are not family members, elite politicians or celebrities. In fact, they are every day professionals like you and me.

In the UK, 63% of Family Office CEOs are non-family members, in the US it’s 51% and in Europe it’s 71%. Any professional has the ability to work for a Family Office so long as they are exceptional in their subject matter area, culturally aligned with the faceless leaders and dedicated to the cause because after all, these organisations are changing the world, all be it, secretly.

Have you heard of Weybourne Partners? Zoma Capital? Madrome Capital Partners? Interogo? These are the faceless organisations behind Dyson, the vacuum cleaner you might use to tidy your house, Walmart

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, the supermarket you may walk into every day and IKEA – the makings of the majority of our homes.

Faceless organisations can often be found behind everything we eat, drink and think but it is the incredible work taking place away from their operating businesses that give them the title of Masters of the Universe.

The faceless organisations behind Walmart support thriving communities in Colorado and Chile, the faceless organisations behind IKEA seek to build a market economy, equality and social responsibility while the faceless organisation behind Dyson created the Institute of Engineering and Technology for the next generation.

Of course, we would never disclose the names of any of these Faceless Organisations as privacy and confidentiality are of the utmost importance to Family Offices. These are just a few examples of organisations in the public eye who chose to offer a face to make a difference.

The faceless organisations of today are building a future for tomorrow. My role is to help them find exceptional talent to help and together, they are changing the world.