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Investment firms for ultra-rich families expect millennial and Gen X heirs to make their mark when they take the reins, according to a new survey by Bank of America.
Nearly three-quarters of family offices with hands-off principals anticipate the next generation will change the firm’s purpose or mission, and possibly shut down their family offices altogether.
Family office decision-makers predict the next generation will have different investment priorities and increasingly use AI to achieve them.

Swissmediavision | E+ | Getty Images

A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
Keeping wealth in the family is easier than controlling how your heirs invest it.

For investment firms of ultra-wealthy families, the stakes are especially high. A recent Bank of America survey of 335 family offices, with 60% of respondents holding at least $500 million in assets, found that 87% had yet to pass down assets to the next generation.
More than a third of family offices with principals fully involved in firm operations expected heirs to change the family office’s mission or purpose. For firms with principals who are less involved with decision-making, the share jumps to 73%, according to the survey.
“It’s more than just passing down the wealth. We know that next generation will usher in a new era of investing, of how they think about philanthropy, how they use technology,” Bank of America’s Elizabeth Thiessen told Inside Wealth.

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Thiessen, who leads family office solutions for the private bank division, said heirs tend to make significant changes such as prioritizing philanthropy over investing or even shutting down the family office altogether.
“The next generation may decide, ‘We don’t want this infrastructure. We don’t want this complicated set of responsibilities around governance and being on the board, and we want to simplify this,'” she said.

This sea change is approaching quickly, with 59% of respondents reporting that they expected to transfer assets to the next generation within 10 years.

Thiessen said heirs are more likely to make dramatic shifts when principals have not taken the steps to integrate them in the family office.
This can also lead to strife, with nearly half of family offices with less involved principals expecting an increase in family disputes compared with 29% of firms with fully involved principals.
Regardless of principal involvement, most family offices said they expected successors to grow their fortune and increase their use of technology and artificial intelligence in firm operations.
More than half of respondents said they had already tried AI for market research and other tasks with most reporting positive experiences. Larger family offices were most likely to use it, with nearly three-quarters of firms with at least $1 billion in assets reporting doing so, compared with 40% of family offices holding less than $500 million.
A majority of respondents — 56% of family offices with fully involved principals and 73% of firms with less involved ones — also expected heirs to increase their allocations to alternative investments. These predictions are in line with family offices’ bullish attitudes toward private equity, direct investments in companies and real estate, which were the three most favored opportunities to create future wealth.
Respondents already boast a high allocation to alternatives, excluding cryptocurrencies, with an average of 34.5%, nearly on par with marketable securities at 36.4%. A slim majority anticipated heirs would raise their allocations to cryptocurrencies, which have a current average allocation of 6.4%, according to Bank of America.
These millennial and Gen X heirs are also widely expected to sustain or increase their sustainable or impact investments, despite broader backlash to ESG investments. Last quarter, global sustainable funds saw $55 billion in net outflows, with the lion’s share derived from redemptions in BlackRock funds, according to Morningstar.
While 64% of respondents said their top challenge was growing and preserving their wealth, family offices were widely bullish about the economy. Six in 10 respondents said they were optimistic about the U.S stock market; private equity; and merger and acquisition activity over the next year. More than half of firms holding at least $500 million in assets expected U.S. gross domestic product to increase during the next year. More

Flight cancellations eased to the lowest rate in almost a week on Wednesday ahead of a House vote on a bill that could end the longest-ever government shutdown.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and major airlines warned that flight disruptions could linger even after the shutdown.
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian urged officials to make sure air traffic controllers are paid the next time there’s a shutdown.

The FAA Air Traffic Control tower at LaGuardia Airport (LGA) in the Queens borough of New York, US, on Friday, Nov. 7, 2025.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The Department of Transportation late Wednesday froze flight cuts it imposed less than a week ago as air travel disruptions eased across the U.S. ahead of a House vote on a funding bill that could end the longest federal government shutdown in history.
The House on Wednesday night cleared a procedural hurdle required before a vote could begin on a funding bill that would keep the government open through January. President Donald Trump would sign the bill on Wednesday, the White House said.

On Wednesday, 816 U.S. departures were canceled, 3.5% of airlines’ schedule, the lowest rate and number of cancellations since last Thursday, according to aviation data firm Cirium.
The shutdown again put air travel in the spotlight and heightened strains on air traffic controllers, who have been required to work without receiving their regularly scheduled paychecks. The DOT said Wednesday night in a statement that there was a “rapid decline” in callouts from controllers in the last two days.

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Trump administration officials on Friday started requiring airlines to trim their schedules, citing safety risks and additional strain on controllers. The required cancellations rose from 4% of domestic flights at U.S. airports to 6% on Tuesday, blaming increased strain on air traffic controllers. They would have increased to 10% by Friday, but DOT froze the increases on Wednesday night.
But the cuts weren’t enough to avoid further disruptions that were worsened by widespread staffing shortages and bad weather, leading to an influx of cancellations and delays last weekend.
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said Wednesday on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” that the shutdown will have a financial impact on the carrier but it wouldn’t come close to wiping out the airline’s profits. He warned that he thinks there will be another shutdown at some point and said air traffic controllers should be paid if that happens.

U.S. airline shares were up broadly on Wednesday before the House vote.
Thin air traffic controller staffing has been on the rise during the shutdown that started Oct. 1, leading to thousands of flights being slowed or altogether canceled and disrupting travel plans of 5 million passengers, according to Airlines for America, an industry group that represents the largest U.S. carriers. Some air traffic controllers were forced to take second jobs to make ends meet, the controllers’ union and government officials have said.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and major airlines this week warned that air travel won’t immediately snap back to normal even after the shutdown.
“We’re going to wait to see the data on our end before we take out the restrictions in travel but it depends on controllers coming back to work,” Duffy said at a news conference at Chicago O’Hare International Airport on Tuesday. More

Just as great cities reflect the genius of their architects, great financial manias reflect the folly of their besuited draughtsmen. New ways of raising and spending capital beguile ambitious bosses and propel markets. This time is no different. Silicon Valley, Wall Street and Washington are conspiring in one of American capitalism’s great money-making eras. The value of America’s listed companies relative to the size of the economy is the highest it has ever been. More

Toyota on Wednesday said it has started production at a new $13.9 billion battery plant in North Carolina.
The Japanese automaker also confirmed plans to invest up to $10 billion more than previously expected over five years in the United States.
The investment follows President Donald Trump last month saying Toyota planned to invest $10 billion in the U.S.

Toyota’s battery manufacturing plant in Liberty, North Carolina, US, on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025.
Allison Joyce | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Toyota Motor on Wednesday said it has started production at a new $13.9 billion battery plant in North Carolina and confirmed plans to invest up to $10 billion more than previously expected over the next five years in the United States.
The Japanese automaker did not release details about the increased investment other than Toyota Motor North America CEO Tetsuo Ogawa calling it a “pivotal moment” in the company’s history along with the new battery plant, according to a release.

The facility is Toyota’s first in-house battery plant outside of Japan. It was first announced in December 2021 amid the Biden administration’s push to onshore production of batteries for hybrids and all-electric vehicles.
Since then, market conditions for EVs have soured, while demand for hybrids continues to grow exponentially. Those changes are positive for Toyota, which is the U.S. leader in hybrid sales with a more than 51% market share through the third quarter of this year, according to Motor Intelligence data.
It’s unclear how much of the investment was already planned but not made previously public, but the announcement follows President Donald Trump last month saying Toyota would invest $10 billion in the U.S.
Toyota and the entire automotive industry have been attempting to navigate production plans amid regulatory changes impacting EVs and Trump’s litany of tariffs on new vehicles and parts.
Toyota’s U.S. sales through the third quarter of this year were up 9.9% to more than 1.3 million vehicles sold. More

Becky Hammon, coach of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces, said the league is divided and suggested it may be time for new leadership.
Calls for Commissioner Cathy Engelbert to step down have built in recent weeks, fueled by comments by Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier.
“I would say they’re probably going to look for a change in leadership. I just think it might be too fractured at this point,” Hammon said.

Las Vegas Aces head coach and six-time WNBA All-Star Becky Hammon said it may be time for a change in WNBA leadership.
In an interview with CNBC Sport, one month after winning her third NBA Championship with the Aces, Hammon discussed what she described as a “rocky relationship” between Commissioner Cathy Engelbert and many WNBA players as calls for Engelbert to step down build.

“I would say they’re probably going to look for a change in leadership. I just think it might be too fractured at this point,” Hammon said.
In late September, Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier publicly criticized Engelbert’s leadership, saying the commissioner showed a lack of empathy toward the players on issues of pay and ongoing officiating problems.
Collier recounted comments Engelbert reportedly made during a meeting in February. Those comments drew widespread backlash and prompted several other players to voice their concerns about the commissioner.
Hammon suggested the situation may now be beyond repair.
“I don’t know if she can ever, kind of, regret, retract and get that traction back from those conversations,” Hammon said.

“The one thing that the [league] has always stood for is when the players speak, people need to sit up and listen,” Hammon said. “I think [Engelbert is] sitting up and listening now.”
The WNBA declined to comment, but pointed CNBC to Engelbert’s record of business achievements.
Engelbert took the helm at the league in 2019 following more than three decades at Deloitte.

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During her tenure as WNBA commissioner, she has led the league through the Covid pandemic and driven record financial, attendance and viewership growth, according to the league. She also helped negotiate the 2020 collective bargaining agreement and a media rights deal that took the league from $60 million annually to $200 million annually in media revenue.
She also oversaw the league’s expansion, adding six new teams in recent years. The latest franchises — teams in Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia — each paid a record $250 million in expansion fees, CNBC previously reported.
In 2024, Engelbert implemented leaguewide charter flights and upgraded team accommodations to five-star hotels, marking another major step in the league’s professionalization.
But players argue they’re underpaid relative to their NBA counterparts — and to the surging popularity of the league.
In an Oct. 3 press conference, ahead of Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, Engelbert acknowledged the criticism surrounding her relationship with players and pledged to make changes.
“If the players don’t feel appreciated and valued by the league, then I have to do better,” Engelbert said.
The WNBA and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association continue to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement ahead of a Nov. 30 deadline.
Hammon, a former WNBA All-Star, made history as the first woman to serve as an acting NBA head coach when she filled in for then-San Antonio Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich in 2020 during her time as an assistant coach with the team.
In 2021, the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces announced Hammon would take over as head coach. She’s led the team to three championships in the last four years and was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023. More

Swiss sneaker brand On raised its guidance for a third time in a row as it posted results that beat Wall Street’s expectations on the top and bottom lines.
The company said it aims to be the most premium sportswear brand on the market, which is why it won’t offer any deals during the holiday shopping season.
Runner Hellen Obiri was wearing shoes made with On’s “LightSpray” technology when she broke the women’s record in the New York City Marathon earlier this month.

Logo of Swiss shoemaker On is displayed in a shop in Zurich, Switzerland, Aug. 28, 2025.
Denis Balibouse | Reuters

On raised its full-year guidance for the third quarter in a row on Wednesday after the Swiss sportswear company posted another three months of double-digit growth, bucking a slowdown in the sneaker market. 
The company, known for its innovative approach to running shoes, is now expecting fiscal 2025 sales to reach 2.98 billion francs ($3.72 billion), up from its previous guidance of 2.91 billion francs, on a reported basis. On a constant currency basis, the company anticipates sales will grow 34% from the prior year, up from its previous forecast of 31%. 

The forecast is slightly above the 2.97 billion francs analysts were expecting, according to LSEG. 
“Our focus on premium, on full-price sales, on innovation, on that intersection between performance and design is just resonating very strongly with the consumer, and it’s really setting ourselves apart,” CEO Martin Hoffmann told CNBC in an interview. “You see it in the results. We have strong top line growth, we have a strong margin, so that shows that we stay fully committed to full-price sales, and this is across all our channels.”
During its fiscal 2025 third quarter, the sportswear company beat Wall Street’s expectations on the top and bottom lines. 
Here’s how On performed compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

Earnings per share: 43 cents in francs adjusted vs. 25 cents expected
Revenue: 794 million francs vs. 763 million francs expected

The company’s reported net income for the three-month period that ended Sept. 30 was 118.9 million francs, or 36 cents per share, compared with 30.5 million francs, or 9 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, On posted earnings of 43 cents per share.
Sales rose to 794.4 million francs, up about 25% from roughly 636 million francs a year earlier. 
On’s rosy results comes as competitors like Nike and Hoka plan for either a sales decline or slowdown in growth, as discretionary spending stagnates and tariffs take a bite out of shoppers’ wallets. In late September, Nike said it was expecting sales in its current quarter, which runs generally from early September to early December, to fall by a low-single digit percentage as it works to reignite innovation and streamline operations. Deckers, the parent company behind On’s fellow buzzy footwear brand Hoka, trimmed its sales guidance for Hoka in October. 

Meanwhile, On is raising its sales guidance as it gears up for the holiday shopping season. Retail analysts expect most of the industry to lean heavily on discounts and promotions to drum up demand during the critical holiday shopping season, but On won’t even be offering a Black Friday discount, said co-founder and executive co-chairman Caspar Coppetti.
On will be “full price through the holiday season,” Coppetti said in an interview with CNBC.  “This is against the backdrop of a very competitive and very discount-driven environment currently, and so this leveling up that we’ve done, and then just being able to command a much higher selling price, really sets On apart.” 
While On is typically sold alongside brands like Nike, Hoka and Brooks Running, its holiday strategy is similar to those of luxury brands. It’s part of the company’s strategy to be the most premium sportswear brand on the market by not just offering the highest prices but also the most innovative products across footwear and apparel. 
Still far smaller than many of the legacy brands it competes with, On has slowly been chipping away at their market share primarily through innovation, where industry leader Nike has been criticized of falling behind.
Last year, On launched its Cloudboom Strike LS produced with its “LightSpray” technology, which makes performance running shoes using a spray gun in a matter of minutes. Runner Hellen Obiri was wearing the shoes when she broke the women’s record in the New York City Marathon by almost three minutes earlier this month.
“That’s a very strong validation,” said Coppetti. “Runners really do pay attention to what people are wearing now when they’re in a race, because these innovations trickle down and they inform their choices.” More

Airlines will need time to adjust schedules and staffing even after the government shutdown ends.
Their warning comes just two weeks before the busiest travel days ahead of Thanksgiving and as air traffic controllers missed their second full paycheck since the shutdown began on Oct. 1.
Record numbers of travelers are expected for the Thanksgiving holiday period, aviation groups said.

A board shows two cancelled American Airlines flights and three on time at Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., Nov. 7, 2025.
Brian Snyder | Reuters

Flight disruptions that have marred air travel for millions of people in recent weeks could continue even after the government shutdown ends, airlines and the secretary of Transportation said.
The Senate on Monday night passed a bill that could end the longest federal government shutdown in history, sending it to the House for a vote.

But Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Tuesday that won’t be an immediate fix.
“We’re going to wait to see the data on our end before we take out the restrictions in travel but it depends on controllers coming back to work,” Duffy said at a press conference at Chicago O’Hare International Airport.
Duffy also warned severe disruptions over the past few days could get much worse without a deal.
The Senate vote came as staffing shortages of air traffic controllers, who are required to work without their regular paychecks in the shutdown, have delayed or canceled thousands of flights, with issues worsening in recent days. Controllers missed their second full paychecks of the shutdown this week, and some have taken up second jobs and are working with increasing levels of stress, government and union officials have said.
Even if the House passes the bill that will fund the federal government through January, airlines said they will need time to readjust.

Read more CNBC airline news

“Airlines’ reduced flight schedules cannot immediately bounce back to full capacity right after the government reopens,” Airlines for America, a lobbying group for airlines including Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines, said late Monday. “It will take time, and there will be residual effects for days. With the Thanksgiving travel period beginning next week and the busy shipping season around the corner, the time to act is now to help mitigate any further impacts to Americans.”
Airlines will need time to reconfigure schedules and position planes and crews, something they were forced to quickly address with last week’s required flight cuts.
More than 5 million travelers have been affected by airline staffing issues since the shutdown began on Oct. 1, Airlines for America said . The disruptions have sent some passengers looking for alternatives, from buses to rental cars and even private jets.
Last Friday, the Trump administration started requiring commercial airlines to cut 4% of their domestic flights at 40 busy U.S. airports, with larger reductions on the way if the shutdown doesn’t end, as officials blamed the strain on air traffic controllers.

Aviation groups have said that record numbers of travelers are expected for the Thanksgiving period, with the holiday just over two weeks away.
Just over 5% of the scheduled 22,811 U.S. departures were canceled on Tuesday, a relatively light day for travel generally, according to aviation data firm Cirium. That’s down from an 8.7% cancellation rate on Monday, or 2,239 flights, and 2,633 cancellations on Sunday, or 10.2% of the schedule. Delays had also piled up with staffing shortages and bad weather at major hubs, including Chicago O’Hare.
The shutdown, like the one in late 2018 to early 2019, has thrust aviation’s strains into the spotlight. The previous shutdown, however, ended hours after a shortfall of air traffic controllers snarled air traffic in the New York area.
Aviation groups on Tuesday urged lawmakers to not only end the shutdown but to provide more Department of Transportation funding to help modernize air traffic control and hire more controllers, who were in short supply even before the shutdown began.
“The government shutdown has disrupted that work and slowed the strong momentum we have built for modernization,” the Modern Skies Coalition, which includes major airline, airport and aerospace groups such as Boeing, GE Aerospace and others, as well as labor unions, wrote in an open letter to Congress.
President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to dock pay of air traffic controllers who are absent. “All Air Traffic Controllers must get back to work, NOW!!!,” he wrote in a post on Truth Social, adding that he would recommend $10,000 bonuses for any air traffic controllers who weren’t absent during the shutdown.
Duffy said he supported Trump’s idea and that he was concerned about the dedication and “patriotism” of controllers who haven’t shown up for work. “If we have controllers who systemically weren’t doing their job, we will take action,” he said.
Duffy said controllers would receive about 70% of their pay within two days of the shutdown ending.
A day earlier, Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association union, said it took about 2½ months before the workers were made whole in the shutdown that ended in 2019.
Duffy said the shutdown has made air traffic controller staffing more challenging, with 15 to 20 of them retiring a day instead of around four retiring a day before the government closure. He said the country is roughly 2,000 controllers short of what the system needs.
“The job of keeping aviation safe and secure is tough every day, but forcing federal employees to do it without pay is unacceptable,” the Modern Skies Coalition wrote in its open letter. “We owe public servants at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other agencies supporting aviation, like the National Transportation Safety Board, the Transportation Security Administration and Customs and Border Protection, a debt of gratitude and a swift ending to this shutdown.” More

In “Selling Sunset”, a Netflix reality show, a group of estate agents strut through the Hollywood Hills in stilettos competing for listings. Office envy erupts when romantic ties to the boss allegedly earn one woman a particularly lucrative listing. According to Emily Nix, an economist at the University of Southern California, the show represents “exactly the dynamics” that she and her co-authors set out to examine in a new working paper. More