For high-visibility leaders, athletes, executives and public figures, financial risk comes not only from the market, but from exposure itself. According to Jeffrey Fratarcangeli, founder and CEO of Fratarcangeli Wealth Management, the more visible someone becomes, the more deliberate their financial structure needs to be.
“Sometimes operating under the radar is not the worst thing,” Fratarcangeli said. “We all want to enjoy our success, but there’s an important balance to be had. You do not always need to be vocal about your wealth.”
For public figures, the financial risks are rarely about their success. Instead, they’re about whether that success is built on a structure that can withstand attention, scrutiny and the unexpected. Below are four insights Fratarcangeli shares on protecting personal and business interests when visibility itself becomes a liability to wealth management.
Titling matters more than people realize
One of the most overlooked protections for public figures is something as basic as how an asset is titled.
“If you are a well-known celebrity or public figure, your home should be in a private entity, an LLC, something that is not attached to your name,” Fratarcangeli explained.
He noted that his firm has represented high-profile CEOs and head coaches in professional leagues, structuring ownership of primary homes outside of their personal names.
This simple step separates a public identity from a private asset, reducing exposure that comes purely from being recognizable.
Variable income requires more liquidity, not less
Public figures, including athletes, executives and entertainers, often earn through endorsements, bonuses and one-time payouts rather than steady salaries. Fratarcangeli says that irregularity changes how liquidity should be approached.
“Those who have variable income need to have more liquidity, because that variability can change in both directions,” he explained. “It is common for someone with variable income to be paid substantially more one year versus the next.”
Fratarcangeli pointed out that no career sustains peak earning years indefinitely.
“Try to think of one scenario where a public figure was consistently paid better and better over their entire career. It does not exist. You cannot expect your income stream to remain consistent.”
Personal wealth and business interests need a hard separation
For public figures who also own or lead a company, Fratarcangeli says keeping personal and business assets structurally separate is not optional.
“If an owner of a company’s wealth is tied to their business, in a public market or privately because they have no liquidity, that is a problem,” he explained. “Whether you are a business owner or CEO of a public company, you need to diversify your assets.”
He also points to required share ownership as a structural risk specific to public company executives.
“The restrictions put on public CEOs or executives, and the amount of shares they have to own, are already an impediment,” he said. “I typically do not recommend that clients go beyond that number too dramatically, because the future can’t be predicted. You could be let go and now have to sell a position in a stock trading with lower volume. Or, the company you thought would never go down in the market suddenly drops without warning. I’ve seen it happen.”
Longevity is the most common planning gap
When asked what he sees go wrong most often for public figures and high-powered individuals, Fratarcangeli didn’t point to market timing or bad investments. Instead, he pointed to assumptions about how long success will last.
“People think the success is going to be forever, but in reality it rarely lasts as long as you think,” he explained. “Plan for the worst, and expect that eventually, the measure of your success will change.”
That mindset, he explained, is precisely why high earners benefit from professional planning more than people assume.
“It’s a common misconception that high earners do not need financial planning services, because they have a seemingly insurmountable amount of discretionary income,” he said. “In fact, they need it more.”
Fratarcangeli also noted that reputation risk can quickly become financial risk for public figures, citing the widely circulated video of a CEO caught on camera at a Coldplay concert as a recent example.
“I wonder if that person had enough liquidity saved going into that situation,” he said.
For more insight from Jeffrey Fratarcangeli, visit www.fratarcangeliwealth.com.