Family offices · United States
DFO Management: Michael Dell's Family Office Explained
Michael Dell's family office was set up in 1998 as MSD Capital, L.P. and was restructured as DFO Management, LLC at the end of 2022. Based in New York, it manages the investment assets of Michael Dell and his family across a wide variety of asset classes. In September 2026 it agreed, with Sequence Holdings, to take The Baldwin Group private in a deal valued at about $7.7 billion. [1, 2, 3]
At a glance
| Family | Dell family |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1998 |
| Headquarters | New York, New York, USA |
| Run by | Gregg Lemkau, Chairman; Marc Lisker, President (SEC filing, February 2024) |
| Size | No public figure |
| Structure | Single family office; DFO Management, LLC; separate from BDT & MSD Partners |
| Known for | Managing Michael Dell's wealth; Baldwin Group take-private (2026, about $7.7 billion) |
How did DFO Management start?
Michael Dell's family office was established in 1998 as MSD Capital, L.P., according to the office's own 2026 description. A 2023 SEC filing calls MSD Capital 'the family office of Michael Dell and his family' and describes MSD Partners, L.P. as an SEC-registered investment adviser formed by partners of MSD Capital. According to InvestmentNews, MSD Partners merged with BDT & Co. in 2022 to form BDT & MSD Partners. The family office was restructured separately as DFO Management at the end of 2022, and a 2024 SEC filing names BDT & MSD Partners, LLC and DFO Management, LLC as different firms. [1, 4, 5, 6]
Who runs DFO Management?
Gregg Lemkau is Chairman of DFO Management, LLC and co-CEO of BDT & MSD Partners, LLC, and Marc Lisker is President of DFO Management, according to a Schedule 13D/A filed in February 2024; no more recent official list of DFO's executives was found. Michael Dell is the controlling member of MSD Capital Management, LLC, the general partner of MSD Capital, L.P. Lisker signed MSD Capital's Form 13F for the quarter to 31 December 2025, filed in February 2026, as a manager of the general partner. [2, 6]
How big is DFO Management?
No public figure for DFO's total assets was found. MSD Capital, L.P.'s Form 13F for the quarter to 31 December 2025 listed three holdings with a combined value of about $88.8 million. A 13F covers only US-listed shares and some related securities over which the filing entity has investment discretion at quarter end. It leaves out private companies, private funds, real estate, bonds and cash, and shares Michael Dell holds outside that entity, so it is not a measure of DFO's portfolio or the family's wealth. [2]
What does DFO Management invest in?
DFO says it can invest in a wide variety of asset classes, and Michael Dell describes it as investing 'with the flexibility and patience of permanent capital, not as a fund working against a fixed exit clock'. In September 2026 Sequence Holdings and DFO agreed to acquire a majority interest in The Baldwin Insurance Group, based in Tampa, Florida, for $32.50 per share in cash; the deal implies an enterprise value of about $7.7 billion, including about $3.1 billion of net debt, and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027. Earlier, MSD Capital was the investment manager of MSD Life Time Investments, which held 6.0% of Life Time Group Holdings according to a February 2024 Schedule 13D/A. [1, 6]
How is DFO Management set up and regulated?
DFO Management, LLC is a limited liability company based in New York; the state where it is registered was not found. MSD Capital, L.P. still exists and files Form 13F reports, with MSD Capital Management, LLC, controlled by Michael Dell, as its general partner. The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation files its own 13F reports care of DFO Management, which a 2023 filing placed at One Vanderbilt Avenue, 26th Floor, New York. BDT & MSD Partners, LLC is a separate firm; no Form ADV for DFO was found, so whether it relies on the SEC family office rule is not confirmed. [1, 2, 3, 6]
What changed in 2025 and 2026?
In September 2026 DFO and Sequence Holdings agreed to take The Baldwin Group private in an all-cash deal valued at about $7.7 billion including debt, expected to close in the first quarter of 2027. MSD Capital's 13F filed in February 2026 gave its address as 550 Madison Avenue, 20th Floor, New York, rather than the One Vanderbilt Avenue address used in 2023 and 2024 filings. [1, 2, 6]
