Updated posts August 2026
Billionaires Convene in Palm Beach for the 1640 Society Family Office Wealth Forum
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, allowing them to easily fly in safely for the forum.
The main logistical challenge surrounding the forum was that many families attempted to land their jets at the same time on Sunday, ahead of the cocktail party. Billionaire Jackie Siegel commented that it was the first time she couldn’t secure a landing slot at Palm Beach’s private airport and had to reroute her landing to Boca Raton, later discovering that several friends flying in for the forum had claimed the landing times she wanted at PBI.
Participation in the network remains by invitation only, drawing some of the most prominent family members, heirs, and high net worth investors from across the globe, including Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America, as members of its exchange. The 1640 Society’s annual private meeting is an exclusive, invitation only event that brings together leading family members, family offices, and wealthy leaders from around the world for closed door private discussion on issues affecting the global elite and top one percent.
A Weekend of Wealth, Policy, and Legacy
The forum kicked off Sunday evening at a private waterfront home in Palm Beach over cocktails and continued Monday with a full slate of discussions. Leading CIOs compared asset allocation strategies, while a panel featuring CEOs from across the globe, including one of the wealthiest families flying in from the Middle East, addressed pressing business issues. Attorney General Sean Reyes discussed the fentanyl crisis at the border alongside the Siegels, who lost a child to an opioid overdose. Stephen Kennedy Smith joined a healthcare panel featuring several serial entrepreneurs who had sold multiple healthcare businesses, and billionaire Gary Winnick’s CEO discussed how the wireless revolution was monetized while giving back to support global causes.
Tim Draper spoke with SoFi founder Mike Cagney, offering an entrepreneur’s perspective on how technology continues to disrupt industries and create wealth, while former T. Rowe Price CEO Todd Ruppert gave a comprehensive overview of investment strategy and early stage venture capital. Later in the day, geopolitical issues took center stage as Ambassador Gordon Sondland spoke with Ambassador Philip Lader about his tenure as US Ambassador to the European Union and the negotiations he conducted with foreign leaders and multinational corporations to protect US interests both abroad and at home. Outback Steakhouse founder Tim Gannon spoke alongside his son Chris, CEO of Bolay, offering a compelling example of next generation family leadership, with both father and son having founded and led top restaurant brands, as well as winning the US Open Polo Championship years apart. The day closed with guests mingling over cocktails.
An Exclusive Circle, Deliberately Curated
What continues to distinguish the 1640 Society from other wealth focused gatherings is just how selective its membership process remains. With some of the most influential families in Palm Beach in attendance, not every high net worth family who applied to the forum gained admittance. The 1640 Society operates the forum much like a country club, maintaining a rigorous approval process that admits only a few hundred families annually. That scarcity, more than the wealth itself, is part of what gives the gathering its particular sense of exclusivity.
Families who successfully navigated the selection process included leading names such as the Pitcairns, Kennedys, Bushes, Firestones, Fords, Rockefellers, Bronfmans, Ketterings, Gettys, Kluges, Pritzkers, Johnsons, Heinzes, Hunts, and Musks, tied to the co-founder of PayPal, along with international families like the Mittals of India and the Pears families of Europe.
