Imagine having so much money that even a quiet month still means dropping a few hundred million dollars on ideas most people have never heard of. That pretty much sums up November for the world’s richest families.
While the rest of Wall Street was catching its breath after the election and bracing for whatever tariffs come next, the private investment arms of billionaires were doing something fascinating: writing enormous checks to companies trying to teach artificial intelligence how to keep us alive longer and healthier.
A Surprisingly Quiet Month That Wasn’t
On paper, November looked sleepy. Data tracking direct investments by family offices worldwide recorded only 55 deals—down 5% from October and a hefty 37% lower than the same month last year. Geopolitical noise, uncertainty around trade policy, and the usual end-of-year caution seemed to put most ultra-wealthy investors in wait-and-see mode.
But numbers only tell part of the story. When you zoom in on the deals that did happen, a clear pattern jumps out: the billionaires who kept moving weren’t scattering shots—they were laser-focused on one megatrend.
Artificial intelligence meets healthcare. And they’re betting bigger than ever.
Jeff Bezos Refuses to Sit Still
Let’s start with the most active player of the month. The personal investment office of the Amazon founder closed at least four separate transactions in November alone—an unusually busy sprint for a vehicle that normally operates in stealth mode.
The standout? Co-leading a $106 million round for a biotech company that uses generative AI to design proteins from scratch. Think of it as ChatGPT, but instead of writing emails, it’s inventing brand-new tools for gene editing. If that sounds like science fiction, well, that’s exactly why it attracted nine figures in a single month.
“When the dust settles and you see who are the winners, society benefits from those inventions. They still get those life-saving drugs… The benefits to society from AI are going to be gigantic.”
– Jeff Bezos, speaking in October
He warned about an AI bubble at the same event, comparing it to the biotech frenzy of the 1990s. His conclusion? Bubbles burst, but the real breakthroughs survive—and change the world. His November checkbook suggests he’s already picking which breakthroughs he thinks will make it.
Europe’s Luxury Titan Joins the Race
Across the Atlantic, the family office tied to Europe’s richest man was equally active. The venture arm controlled by Bernard Arnault’s children participated in a massive $298 million Series B for a preventive-health platform that mails you 100+ biomarker tests twice a year and uses AI to spot trouble long before symptoms appear.
Roku’s founder and a famous NBA power forward wrote checks alongside them—proof that the allure of “living longer, better” crosses industries and generations.
When Venture Legends Team Up with Family Money
Perhaps the month’s most eye-catching valuation came from a company building AI agents specifically designed not to diagnose patients—but to handle all the exhausting follow-up work doctors never have time for: refill reminders, post-surgery check-ins, chronic-care coaching.
The round closed with the company valued at $3.5 billion. Investors included a legendary Silicon Valley venture firm, its retired (but still influential) founding partner’s personal office, and one of India’s most respected tech philanthropists.
In my view, that combination—old-school VC pedigree plus patient billionaire capital—is exactly what separates the winners from the noise in this space right now.
Why Health-Tech Is the Sweet Spot for Family Offices
A recent survey of more than 300 family offices worldwide helps explain the obsession. When asked which industries will benefit most from artificial intelligence, the answers ranked like this:
- Banking and financial services – 75%
- Pharmaceuticals and biotechnology – 65%
- Healthcare equipment and services – 62%
Nearly half of respondents already hold health-technology positions in their portfolios. For families who want exposure to AI without purely chasing the next large language model hype, healthcare offers something priceless: tangible impact.
It’s one thing to fund another chatbot. It’s another to back technology that might add healthy years to your grandchildren’s lives. That emotional pull matters when you’re investing wealth that will outlive you by centuries.
What the Trend Tells Us About 2026
Three quiet signals from November are worth watching closely:
- Concentration over diversification. The billionaires who moved didn’t spray money across twenty sectors—they went deep on AI-enabled medicine.
- Preference for Series B and later. These weren’t seed checks hoping for a home run. They were growth-stage bets on companies already proving traction.
- Global collaboration. American, European, and Asian billionaires co-invested in the same rounds—something that happens rarely outside of the very biggest opportunities.
Taken together, the message feels clear: the smartest, most patient money on earth believes the intersection of artificial intelligence and human longevity is one of the few places still worth aggressive capital deployment—even in an uncertain macro environment.
For the rest of us, that’s useful intelligence. When the people who can afford to sit out any cycle decide not to sit this one out, it’s usually worth paying attention.
The broader family-office world might be moving slowly toward the end of 2025, but a small group of billionaires just placed some of the clearest votes of confidence we’ve seen all year—on a future where artificial intelligence doesn’t just entertain or automate office work, but fundamentally rewrites what it means to grow old.
And if history is any guide, when this crowd agrees on something, the rest of the investment world eventually follows.
