Building a $3B Family Office From Scratch with Matthew Ogle, Co-founder & CEO of Legacy Knight (#411)
In this episode, Chris sits down with Matthew Ogle, Co-founder & CEO of Legacy Knight, a $2.8B multi-family office in Dallas, TX that he co-founded in 2019. We dig into how you build a world-class multi-family office from scratch - and why so many wealthy families out there don't actually have one yet.
Matthew's path into wealth management didn't start in a boardroom - it started on a tennis court. A summer teaching tennis to a CIO's family at Cape Cod opened the first door, which led him to Credit Suisse's private bank through the GFC and then five years at the Crow family office, helping transform it into one of the first true multi-family offices in Dallas. He opened Legacy Knight's doors in October 2019 with $2.5M of operating capital, 14 seed families, and a contrarian bet - that the new generation of sub-50-year-old entrepreneurs hitting their first liquidity event needed something the bulge brackets couldn't offer. Six years later, Legacy Knight manages over $3B and was named the fastest-growing RIA in Texas.
Chris and Matthew go deep on what it actually takes to build a multi-family office the right way - the technology, the hiring, the legacy conversations with families, and why Matthew refuses to grow by acquiring other books of business.
They discuss:
- Why every hire at Legacy Knight comes out of the family office world, not from the bulge brackets
- How most $100M+ families are still running their wealth on a Google Doc and a handshake with their accountant
- Why "do nothing in the year after a liquidity event" is half good advice and half terrible advice
- The most creative things Matthew has seen ultra-wealthy families do with their capital
- How Matthew thinks about his own kids, legacy, and when to start the wealth conversation
Links:
Legacy Knight - https://legacyknight.com/
Matthew on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-ogle-ab11873/Topics:
(02:01) Matthew’s First Exposure to Wealth Management(07:58) Joining Credit Suisse (Pre-GFC): Why the "Bulge Bracket" Mattered, How the Private Banking Associate Model Works(13:08) Why Credit Suisse Failed to Serve Ultra-High-Net-Worth Families(20:07) The First Client Meeting: Soft-Tissue Questions(28:57) Tax Timing and Mitigation Strategies(37:57) The Founding Thesis: People and Platform (Building Legacy Knight)(44:46) The Decision to Launch Legacy Knight Independently(54:43) Fundraising Lessons: Managing Expectations and The Importance of Pitch Order(01:01:18) The Full-Service Family Office Model(01:06:24) What a Vertically Integrated Family Office Actually Includes(01:09:07) Proactive Investment Sourcing(01:13:02) Next-Gen Engagement and Family Legacy Planning: How to Involve Children Appropriately(01:21:46) Matthew’s Hiring Philosophy(01:30:05) Time as the Hidden Cost of Unstructured WealthSupport our Sponsors:Collateral Partners: https://collateral.com/fortChris on Social Media:X: https://x.com/fortworthchrisInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepowerspodcastLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/Visit our website: https://www.powerspod.com/Leave a review on Apple: https://bit.ly/45crFD0Leave a review on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Krl9jO