1

Start with a Provocation

Step One

A few weeks into his second term, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to explore the creation of a U.S. sovereign wealth fund.

For years, the idea had lingered on the fringes—campaign fodder, think tank white papers, nothing more.

Suddenly the question wasn’t should we do it—it was: how could we make it work?

But the U.S. isn’t Norway, swimming in oil surpluses. Could a country with trillion-dollar deficits really pull this off?

2

Follow the Numbers

Step Two

With support from our PhD economists, 
we dug into the data:

  • The U.S. already collects $14.6B a year from oil royalties—but at below-market rates. Matching Texas would add $8.5B more.

    $8.5B

  • Expanded wind and solar leasing: another $1.6B.

    $1.6B

  • Total new predictable revenue: $10.1B.

    $10.1B

Don’t just spend it—borrow against it. That revenue could back a launch fund of $550B. Even under conservative assumptions, at least $82B could be raised.

Instead of theory, we gave the client a financial model showing exactly how America could fund a sovereign wealth fund without new taxes.

3

Test the Edges

Step Three

Even if the fund lost every penny, resource revenues would keep flowing—ensuring bondholders still got paid.

That separation of funding risk from investment risk gave the idea real credibility.

4

Find the Story

Step Four

Next, we translated hundreds of pages of technical findings into one sharp story:

Next, we translated hundreds of pages of technical findings into one sharp story:

5

Put It
Out There

Step Five

Finally, we carried the idea into the public arena: a Fortune op-ed, visual explainers, data visualizations designed to stick.

The story didn’t just argue that a U.S. sovereign wealth fund was possible—it proved how it could work well, down to the dollar.