If anyone in tech has already started their Hot IPO Summer, it’s Silicon Valley’s elite wealth advisers. Two private wealth managers who work with high-net-worth techies have seen an uptick in activity from their client base, some of whom are expecting a big liquidity event this year. This includes employees and early investors at SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic.

Visions of super-yachts, air-cooled Porsches, and vacation homes with closets full of Loro Piana probably come to mind. However, elite advisers say most of their clients are strategic about their newfound wealth before purchasing big-ticket items or plunging into meme stocks. The definition of wealth has changed; Velategui says there's more ambiguity now around how people in tech define high or ultra-high net worth.

Velategui encourages her tech clients to figure out how much 'core wealth' they need to feel financially independent before making any hasty moves, while considering that a balance sheet largely made up of one stock can shift dramatically in value over time. Lock-up periods can be tricky to navigate; most employees and early investors won’t be able to sell their stock until the lockup period following an IPO has ended.

Wealth managers need to prove they’re better than Claude, as people are coming in with more information and targeted questions than ever before. Goldman Sachs has also expanded into the concierge business, hooking up high-net-worth clients with private aviation options, health care specialists, both physical and digital security services, hot tickets to events, and even education consulting for their kids.

Philanthropy is all the rage; Boals Moeller claims this new class of clients is particularly interested in 'dramatically giving back' through philanthropy. Velategui has noticed that the ultra-rich are now giving their kids small funds to dole out—maybe to something like an animal rights group—to teach them to be decent stewards of wealth.