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BDT & MSD Partners
BDT & MSD Partners was formed in 2023 through the combination of BDT & Company, launched by Byron Trott in 2009, and MSD Partners, which since 2009...
BDT & MSD Partners
BDT & MSD Partners was formed in 2023 through the combination of BDT & Company, launched by Byron Trott in 2009, and MSD Partners, which since 2009 invested on behalf of Michael Dell and his family. The merger joined Trott’s deeply networked merchant-banking practice with the multi-billion-dollar investment engine of the Dell fortune, creating a Chicago-headquartered firm that serves ultra-high-net-worth families, founders, and long-term institutional investors. The firm deploys capital across private equity, private credit, and real estate. It pursues buyout, growth, and direct co-investments, often alongside the families and entrepreneurs it advises. Notable holdings include the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai in Hawaii, 550 Madison Avenue in New York, and The Boca Raton Resort & Club in Florida — assets typically sourced through relationship-driven transactions. BDT & MSD operates in North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, with regulated entities in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Dubai. Investment professionals operate from offices in Chicago, New York, London, Frankfurt, and Dubai. The firm combines the advisory heritage of Trott — a former Goldman Sachs vice chairman and trusted banker to Warren Buffett — with the scaled family-capital approach of the Dell family office and a network that includes figures like Dina Powell McCormick. In October 2023, BDT & MSD completed the merger integration and publicly launched the combined entity, carrying forward the debt-and-equity advisory business alongside the proprietary investment platform. BDT & MSD occupies a hybrid lane: it is neither a pure single-family office nor a conventional fund manager. It is a registered broker-dealer and investment adviser, providing both deal-by-deal capital placement and long-duration asset management to a circle of generational families — a structure that historically gave Trott’s clients rare co-investment access to Berkshire Hathaway-style private transactions.
General information
Firm type
Multi Family Office
Year founded
2023
AUM
$50,000 - $100,000 million USD (Altss estimate)
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Chicago
Corporate office
Chicago, IL, United States
Additional offices
New York, NY · Frankfurt am Main, Germany · London, United Kingdom · Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Principals
Byron Trott
Chairman and Co-CEO
Gregg Lemkau
Co-CEO
Michael Dell
Chairman of the Advisory Board
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at BDT & MSD Partners?
Byron Trott and Gregg Lemkau share the Chief Executive Officer role and lead the firm’s investment strategy. Trott, the former Goldman Sachs vice chairman who built his career advising Warren Buffett and closely held businesses, chairs the firm alongside Lemkau, the former co-head of Goldman Sachs investment banking before joining MSD Partners. The Advisory Board includes Michael Dell and Dina Powell McCormick.
How was BDT & MSD Partners formed?
The firm was created in 2023 by merging BDT & Company, Byron Trott’s merchant bank founded in 2009, and MSD Partners, the investment firm that had managed capital for Michael Dell and his family since 2009. The combination brought together a relationship-driven advisory business and a large-scale family-capital platform under one brand.
What investment structures does BDT & MSD Partners use?
The firm makes direct co-investments and operates a private equity and private credit platform, alongside real estate holdings. It often structures deals as co-investments alongside the families it advises, using a merchant-bank model that combines proprietary capital with long-term investor relationships rather than a typical blind-pool fund.
Where does the underlying wealth come from?
The Dell family fortune, built from the founding of Dell Technologies, is the original and anchor capital behind MSD Partners. Byron Trott’s client relationships — most notably his long association with Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway — form the advisory and capital-raising network that BDT & Company contributed to the merger.
How is BDT & MSD Partners regulated?
The firm is registered as an investment adviser and broker-dealer with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and FINRA. Its non-U.S. entities are authorized and regulated by the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority, the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), and the Dubai Financial Services Authority.
What real assets does BDT & MSD Partners own?
Confirmed property holdings include The Boca Raton Resort & Club in Florida, the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai in Hawaii, 550 Madison Avenue in New York, and several mixed-use developments like Knox Street in Dallas and Shell Bay in Hallandale Beach, Florida — reflecting a recurring opportunistic real estate strategy.
Does BDT & MSD Partners operate philanthropic structures?
Separate philanthropic entities associated with the principals include the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, Trott Family Philanthropies, and the rootEd Alliance. These are distinct from the investment activities of the firm and operate under independent governance.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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