Blitzer's Newest Venture and Shifting Family Office Investment Landscape
David Blitzer, a Blackstone billionaire and the first individual to hold team stakes across all five major U.S. professional sports leagues, recently expanded his investments. Last week, Blitzer's personal investment firm, Bolt Ventures, joined a consortium to acquire MotoGP team Red Bull KTM Tech3 for $50 million.
David Blitzer is the first individual to hold team stakes across all five major U.S. professional sports leagues.
Prominent January Investments
Beyond Blitzer's sports acquisition, other notable investments in January included Jeff Bezos' family office, which co-led a $1.4 billion fundraise for AI robotics firm SkildAI. Bezos Expedition, alongside Laurene Powell Jobs' Emerson Collective, also participated in a $480 million seed round for Humans &, a startup focused on training artificial intelligence models for human collaboration.
Shift in Family Office Deal-Making
Despite these high-profile transactions, overall family office deal-making activity began 2026 with a decrease. In January, family offices completed 52 direct investments in companies, representing a 32% year-over-year drop, according to data from Fintrx. This follows a period of reduced direct investment activity in 2025, which was attributed to tariff uncertainties and geopolitical conflicts.
In January 2026, family offices completed 52 direct investments, marking a 32% year-over-year drop.
Focus on Mega-Rounds Continues
While family offices are making fewer direct bets, they continue to focus on mega-rounds. In 2025, half of the $339.4 billion raised in venture capital went to only 0.05% of completed deals, as reported by PitchBook.
Additional Major Backings
Additional significant deals last month included Michael Bloomberg's Willett Advisors and Stanley Druckenmiller's Duquesne Family Office, both backing a $257 million Series D round for Cellares, a company developing automated labs for cell therapy manufacturing. Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's Horizon Ventures also invested in a $150 million Series D for Alpaca, a brokerage technology firm.