Billionaires converged in Palm Beach at a private country club for a socially distanced 1640 Society Family Office Wealth Forum limited to 150 people. The Forum was held outdoors in Palm Beach with family titans, billionaires and entrepreneurs flying in from across the globe. Most of the guests own private planes so could easily fly in safely for the Forum. The main issue surrounding the Forum was the fact that many families were trying to land their jets at the same time on Sunday before the cocktail party.
Billionaire, Jackie Siegel commented that it was the first time they could not get a landing slot at Palm Beach’s private airport and they had to transfer landing to Boca Raton. She later found out that several of her friends flying in for the Forum took the landing times she wanted at PBI. Participation in the network is by invitation only and includes some of the most prominent family members, heirs and high net worth investors from across the globe including Asia, Mid East, Europe & Latin America, as members of its exchange. The 1640 Society annual private meeting is an exclusive invitation-only event that brings together leading family members, family offices, and wealthy leaders from around the globe for a closed door private discussion about issues affecting the global elite and top one percent.
The Forum kicked off Sunday evening at a private waterfront home in Palm Beach over cocktails and continued on Monday with discussions ranging from leading CIO’s comparing asset allocation strategies, a panel with leading CEOs from across the globe, several billionaires including one of the wealthiest families who had flown in from the Middle East, Attorney General Sean Reyes discussed issues with fentanyl coming across the border together with the Siegels who lost a child to an opioid overdose, Stephen Kennedy Smith joined the healthcare panel with several serial entrepreneurs who had sold several healthcare businesses, and billionaire Gary Winnick’s CEO discussed how they monetized the wireless revolution while giving back to save the world.
Tim Draper spoke with Sofi founder Mike Cagney giving an entrepreneurs perspective on how tech is disrupting industries and creating wealth, while former CEO of T. Rowe Price Todd Ruppert gave a great overview of investments and early stage venture capital. Later in the day Geopolitical issues were covered as Ambassador Gordon Sondland was discussing with Ambassador Philip Lader about his stint as US Ambassador to the European Union and the negotiations he had with foreign leaders and multinational corporations to protect US interests abroad and at home. Outback Steakhouse founder Tim Gannon spoke with his son Chris CEO of Bolay and gave a great example of next gen family leadership with both father and son founding and leading top restaurant brands as well as winning the US Open Polo Championships years apart. The day ended with guests mingled over cocktails.
With some of the most influential families in the Palm Beach attending, not all high net worth families who applied to the forum got admittance. The 1640 Society runs the forum like a country club and so there is a rigorous approval process, with only a few hundred families getting approved to join on an annual basis. Families who got past the ultimate selection process included leading names like the Pitcairns, Kennedy’s, Bush, Firestone’s, Ford’s, Rockefeller’s, Bronfman’s, Kettering, Getty’s, Kluge, Pritzker’s, Johnson’s, Heinz, Hunt’s, Musk (co-founder of PayPal), along with international magnets like the Mittal family from India and the Pears families from Europe.