Billionaire Duo In $15bn AI Investment Venture

Billionaire Duo Unveil $15bn AI-Driven Investment Venture

Thomas Tull and Mark Walter, two of the wealthiest investors in the United States, are combining personal fortunes and outside capital to launch an artificial intelligence-focused holding company targeting financial services, sport and defence.

The pair have merged roughly $40bn in private assets into a single platform called TWG Global, with plans to raise a further $15bn from external backers. A $10bn preferred equity commitment from Mubadala Capital; the Abu Dhabi state-owned investment firm, is already in place, alongside smaller contributions from other institutional investors.

Tull, best known for founding Legendary Entertainment before turning his attention to technology and defence start-ups, said he and Walter had spent years building out their asset portfolios with a view to doing something “high conviction and long-term”.

“Globally, there are going to be really interesting opportunities, whether it’s to acquire companies or to invest in new technologies and get behind things,” Tull told the Financial Times. The strategy, he said, is anchored in the idea that artificial intelligence can help identify value, improve operational performance, and streamline decision-making across a wide range of sectors.

Walter, chief executive of Guggenheim Partners and co-owner of both Chelsea FC and the Los Angeles Dodgers, has invested heavily in finance, media, and sport. Tull, who also holds significant stakes in cyber and national security ventures, said the two men had “aligned views” on risk and disruption.

Their new vehicle, TWG Global, reflects that shared outlook, blending traditional investment approaches with next-generation analytics. The firm’s aim is to use AI as a foundation for identifying acquisition targets and boosting portfolio company efficiency.

“The idea was to have artificial intelligence drive everything we do. We would put a team together and we would weigh and measure everything,” Tull said.

Sources familiar with the matter say TWG’s fundraise is close to completion and significantly oversubscribed. The $15bn equity vehicle will sit alongside the duo’s own capital and provide firepower for large deals.

The deal with Mubadala Capital, which includes a 5 per cent stake in the Abu Dhabi firm going to TWG, is considered a cornerstone of the new fund’s strategy. Mubadala, a prolific investor in private equity and technology, is expected to play an ongoing advisory role as the partnership matures.

TWG’s early activity includes a planned launch of an AI platform for the financial services industry, in collaboration with Elon Musk’s xAI and data analytics group Palantir. The new platform will enable banks and insurers to process vast troves of financial data, particularly unstructured content such as PDFs, voice notes and scanned documents, which traditional systems struggle to handle.

People briefed on the initiative say the system combines Palantir’s enterprise software with xAI’s Grok model and vast compute access. The idea is to allow firms to extract actionable insights from data previously considered too messy or diffuse for real-time analysis.

Initial deployments are already under way within Guggenheim and its affiliated insurance business, Group 1001, where the platform is being tested on live data. TWG executives say the goal is to roll the product out commercially later this year, starting in the US before expanding to Europe and the Gulf.

Beyond finance, TWG expects to make early plays in defence and sport. Tull has been a prominent backer of military-focused AI start-ups in recent years, while Walter’s connections in major league baseball and European football offer scope for data-led innovations in scouting, performance management and fan engagement.

Tull and Walter’s approach is distinctive not just for the scale of personal capital involved, but for the structure of their collaboration. Rather than launching a traditional private equity firm or venture capital house, they have opted for a permanent capital model, allowing them to take a long-term view without the constraints of fundraising cycles.

“We’re not in a rush,” said one executive involved in the formation of TWG. “They’re willing to be patient, but also very bold. The capital base gives them options most investors don’t have.”

The decision to centre the firm around artificial intelligence reflects a belief that traditional investment methodologies — including quantitative modelling and human intuition — can be meaningfully improved with the right data infrastructure.

“There’s so much noise in the system. AI can help find the signals,” the executive said.

This belief is mirrored by a growing number of large investors. Over the past two years, AI adoption has accelerated across hedge funds, family offices and sovereign wealth funds. Most use machine learning for tasks such as sentiment analysis, fraud detection or pattern recognition in capital markets. TWG, however, is aiming to go further, embedding AI not just in due diligence and data processing, but in shaping strategy and management decisions across its portfolio.

Industry analysts say the venture is part of a broader trend in which high-net-worth investors increasingly bypass traditional funds to build direct investment platforms with institutional scale. What sets TWG apart, they argue, is its deep sector reach and ability to write large cheques without syndication.

“Very few people can combine capital, conviction and connections in this way,” said one New York-based dealmaker who has worked with both men. “It’s a supercharged version of a family office, with AI as the secret sauce.”

Whether the venture succeeds will depend partly on its ability to stay ahead of an increasingly competitive AI landscape. Major private equity firms including Blackstone, Apollo and KKR are also exploring AI-driven investment strategies, while sovereign funds from Singapore to Riyadh are backing emerging data analytics groups.

TWG’s founders appear undeterred. With core investments already live and a $15bn war chest in hand, they believe they have first-mover advantage, and time on their side.

“The world is changing fast,” Tull said. “But if you build the right platform and make smart bets, there’s a lot of opportunity out there.”