As design software company Figma gears up for its highly anticipated IPO, one unexpected beneficiary has emerged: a charity holding 13 million shares, whose origins trace back to a notorious family feud over an oil empire decades ago.
The charity, whose stake is now valued in the hundreds of millions, was born out of a protracted legal battle over a multi-billion-dollar oil fortune that fractured one of America’s wealthiest dynasties. After years of litigation, a settlement redirected part of the disputed wealth into a charitable trust—an entity that has quietly grown its influence through strategic investments, including an early stake in Figma.
A Windfall From a Modern Tech Darling
Figma’s meteoric rise from a startup to a design powerhouse courted by Adobe (which attempted a $20 billion acquisition in 2022) has turned its early backers into major winners. But the charity’s windfall stands out—not only because of its size, but because of its dramatic origin story rooted in old-money family drama and courtroom battles that once gripped Wall Street and high society alike.
The Backstory: Oil Wealth and Family Feud
The feud dates back to a dispute over control of a sprawling oil business in the mid-20th century, involving heirs who clashed publicly and fought bitterly in court. In the end, a portion of the contested estate was diverted to create a charitable foundation—seen at the time as both a resolution and a way to safeguard wealth from further infighting.
Now, decades later, that very foundation stands poised to be one of the biggest winners of Figma’s IPO.
From Oil Fields to Tech Riches
The tale highlights the unexpected intersections between old-world wealth and modern Silicon Valley riches. What began as a messy inheritance battle in the oil patch is now paying off in the form of a stake in one of the tech sector’s hottest public offerings.
For Figma’s IPO, it’s an unexpected twist: a high-growth tech company delivering a payday to a decades-old charity born out of one of America’s most bitterly fought family disputes.
As one analyst put it: “This is the ultimate full-circle moment—where oil money from a bygone era is now riding the wave of the digital design economy.”
