Rockefeller CEO Says US Debt Is Bigger Concern Than Inflation

9tnrj3k3zfufpmg6tg59(ni9_media_dl_1.png Federal Reserve Bank of St. Loui

Article content

(Bloomberg) — Rising US national debt, coupled with the lack of political impetus to tame it, is more concerning than inflationary pressures, according to Rockefeller Capital Management Chief Executive Officer Greg Fleming.

Article content

The growing debt load risks pushing up borrowing costs and limiting the Federal Reserve’s flexibility in setting monetary policy, he said in an interview.

Article content

Article content

Article content

“It’s a fantastic amount of money to have borrowed, even for an economy this robust,” Fleming, 63, said during an episode of Bloomberg Wealth with David Rubenstein.

Article content

Article content

US debt is approaching $40 trillion as the federal government consistently runs annual deficits equaling more than 5% of gross domestic product. In 2025, the government paid $970 billion in interest costs, according to the Congressional Budget Office, which is more than it spent that year on defense ($893 billion) and nearly as much as on Medicare ($988 billion).

Article content

“We spend more on interest than we do on defense, and that obviously could have rate implications” for the Fed, Fleming said in the interview. Spiraling debt, AI-driven productivity gains and the ongoing energy shock combine to create a “complicated picture” for new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, he said.

Article content

Based in New York, Rockefeller is an investment and wealth-management firm that advises high-net and ultra-high-net-worth families. It was created in 2018 after Viking Global Investors acquired a majority stake in Rockefeller & Co., an iteration of one of the oldest family offices in the country, first established by the Rockefeller family in 1882.

Article content

Article content

The company was valued at $6.6 billion in October in a recapitalization led by Mousse Partners — the investment firm owned by the family behind Chanel — alongside family-backed firms Progeny 3 and Abrams Capital.

Article content

‘Happy’ Shareholders

Article content

Fleming said he has no plans to take Rockefeller public anytime soon. “We have a very happy set of shareholders,” he told Rubenstein, a co-founder of Carlyle Group Inc. “I think they’re comfortable with the company being private in the long run.”

Article content

Rockefeller manages more than $200 billion in assets and primarily serves families with at least $20 million in assets, Fleming said. Most of the firm’s clients are based in the US, where over 700,000 millionaires were minted in 2025, according to a report from consulting firm Capgemini.

Article content

“The wealth creation in this country continues to be frankly staggering,” he said.

Article content

Much of that has been driven by AI-related gains on Wall Street, including last month’s initial public offering of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which generated an unprecedented amount of wealth for its employees and founder.

Article content

While AI has produced hefty returns for investors, the technology also has the potential to lure some would-be clients away from wealth managers, according to a McKinsey & Co. analysis.

Article content

Fleming said AI could make Rockefeller’s private adviser teams more efficient and result in fewer hires, but won’t replace the advantages of meeting clients face-to-face.

Article content

“The work we do with families, there’s a lot of complexity,” he said. “You’re dealing with the human beings.”

Article content

For the full interview with Greg Fleming, please watch Bloomberg Wealth with David Rubenstein on Bloomberg.com and YouTube.

Article content