By Andreas Pettersson, Founder, Leaders ADAPT
$20 million in qualifying net worth. $34,000 a year in dues. A full day, 11 times a year. Groups of 12 to 15.
Those are the published facts of TIGER 21, and every one of them is about the money a member already has, not the company a member is still running.
My own room at Leaders ADAPT is a virtual CEO mastermind, capped at 14 members, and it has no revenue gate, so this group and I rarely want the same person in the same year. This page is the TIGER 21 entry in the CEO Peer Group Index. Every value is sourced, and every blank stays blank.
Quick answer: TIGER 21 is a peer group for ultra high net worth investors and post liquidity founders, gated at US$20 million in qualifying net worth. North American dues are US$34,000 a year plus a US$5,000 initiation, so year one is US$39,000. Groups of 12 to 15 meet for a full day 11 times a year with a paid Chair. This is a wealth preservation group, not an operating CEO group.
What TIGER 21 is, in 12 fields
TIGER 21 is a wealth preservation peer group with a net worth gate, built for people whose main job is now the capital, not the company. That sentence answers most of the "what is TIGER 21" searches I see. The table answers the rest. Each row reflects a reading in October 2026.
| Field | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Peer groups of ultra high net worth wealth creators focused on preserving wealth and life after the operating role | Home page |
| Cost and year one | North America: US$34,000 a year plus US$5,000 initiation, so US$39,000 in year one. Family Office Groups US$51,500. Global Groups US$34,000. Dues adjusted annually to a forecast developed economies CPI | Membership FAQ |
| Gates | At least US$20M in qualifying net worth or investable assets, personal use assets excluded. Vetted on the 5Cs with background checks and interviews. No revenue, age or headcount gate published | Qualifications, FAQ |
| Group size | 12 to 15 trusted peers | Qualifications, Chairs |
| Time commitment | A day long meeting each month, 11 times a year, plus an annual Portfolio Defense | Membership FAQ, Asora |
| Facilitator model | A paid Chair. Chairs are independent contractors with control over their own schedules | Chairs |
| Contract and cancellation | Not published | FAQ |
| Format and geography | In person groups in 54 cities, plus virtual and family office groups. Asia, Canada, Europe, Middle East, Oceania, US | About |
| Industry mix | Entrepreneurs, investors and executives after liquidity. Wealth, not industry, defines the group | Home page |
| What members say | "The people around the table are really asset advisors, non-paid board members." Company hosted member opinion | Qualifications |
| Founded and size | Founded 1999 by Michael Sonnenfeldt. 1,900+ members in 162 groups | About |
| Best for and not for | For people above US$20M who have exited or stepped back and want a peer board for their wealth. Not for operating CEOs whose problems are inside the company | Read of all sources above |
What TIGER 21 does well
It publishes the price. Most groups in the Index make you sit through a sales call to learn the cost. The TIGER 21 membership cost is on its own FAQ, with the initiation, the regional variants and the rule for annual increases.
I respect that. It is rarer than it should be.
It publishes the gate. The TIGER 21 requirements are a hard number, US$20 million, with a written definition of what counts. Then it says plainly that the number does not guarantee admission, because the 5Cs (Character, Contribution, Capacity, Conditions, Capital) and the interviews do the real filtering.
It has a signature practice that matches its purpose. In the Portfolio Defense, each member puts the whole financial position on the table once a year and the group takes it apart. That is a serious discipline for a serious decision.
And it bans the pitch. The FAQ lists a commitment not to solicit. A chair quoted by Spear's put it as "No one is selling anything." In a room full of capital, that rule protects the trust the format runs on.
What the public record leaves out
Cancellation terms. The FAQ and the qualifications page say nothing about notice, refunds or minimum terms, and the pricing policy page did not resolve when I read it. With a US$5,000 initiation on the line, that is the first thing I would ask for in writing.
Independent member reviews. The member quotes in the public record are either company hosted or gathered by a wealth publication. Useful, but not the same as a member speaking unprompted.
Time spent per meeting beyond "day long". The structure of the day is not laid out on the pages I read.
The qualitative test. The FAQ says there are "other important, less easily defined requirements" at the organisation's discretion. That is honest. It also means you cannot know in advance whether you will be admitted.
Who TIGER 21 is not for
The operating founder at US$15 million in revenue whose net worth is mostly the company. On paper the owner may be rich. In qualifying terms, much of that wealth is illiquid equity in one business, and the decisions that keep the owner up at night are about margin, hiring and a sales leader who is missing plan.
The CEO who wants a board for the business. A group sorted by wealth may hold a retired investor, a family office principal and a founder five years past a sale. The TIGER 21 membership page describes those peers as "asset advisors".
That is exactly right for allocation. It is the wrong panel for a pricing decision next quarter.
The founder who is still building and not yet at the line. If you want peers at your wealth stage with a lower bar, Long Angle gates at US$3 million in investable assets and is free at the base layer. If you are selling within two years, the exit strategy for business owners page covers the decisions before the money arrives.
The structural gap: a wealth board will not catch an operating mistake
I learned what an operating board is for the expensive way. At Arcules I once said yes to 47 initiatives at the same time. Every team was busy. Every team hit its own targets.
Then a board director looked at the whole picture and told me I had built an efficient company solving the wrong problems.
The cost was over $1 million in lost revenue and 14 months behind the market. The line I still use for it: we were perfect at everything that did not matter.
Nobody inside the company could have told me that. Not because they were weak. Because they were inside it. It took someone outside the building, looking at the operating plan, with permission to be blunt.
That is the gap this format does not try to fill. Its Portfolio Defense asks whether your capital is in the right places.
It does not ask whether your company is working on the right 3 problems or the wrong 47. One is a question about what you own. The other is a question about what you run.
A US$20 million gate does not signal a more senior version of a CEO peer group. It signals a different instrument, aimed at a different decision. If the decision in front of you is allocation, the instrument is well made. If it is execution, it points the wrong way.
The CEO peer group compare tool sets TIGER 21 next to the operating groups field by field, so you can see that difference in one view.
The Leaders ADAPT room, scored on the same 12 fields
The Index scores my room with the same fields it uses for everyone. Not a better room overall. A room built for the other decision.
| Field | Leaders ADAPT CEO Mastermind | Source |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A virtual mastermind for founders and CEOs who are still running the company, led by the operator who started it | CEO Mastermind |
| Cost and year one | Not printed on blog pages. Shared only on a fit call | This page |
| Gates | No revenue gate and no net worth gate. You need a track record of building something and a willingness to be challenged | This page |
| Group size | At most 14 members | This page |
| Time commitment | A monthly virtual session plus weekly office hours | This page |
| Facilitator model | An operator rather than a paid Chair. I took an AI company to more than 150 people and exited it to Canon, and I lead each session | This page |
| Contract and cancellation | No multi year contract | This page |
| Format and geography | Virtual. Seats are filled on fit, not on city | This page |
| Industry mix | Home care, flooring, title services, aviation services, wellness, logistics, lending | This page |
| What members say | No member is named on this site, so the row is empty on purpose | This page |
| Founded and size | Leaders ADAPT, founded by Andreas Pettersson. A single group of at most 14 | This page |
| Best for and not for | For owners of $1M to $20M+ companies whose wealth is still mostly the business, and builders after an exit who are starting again. Not for anyone whose main question is portfolio allocation, and not for anyone who wants a gentle room | This page |
The trade is plain. No day long meeting in a private room, no Portfolio Defense, no family office peers. In exchange, a monthly hot seat on the company itself.
A board for what you run, not what you own
The Leaders ADAPT CEO Mastermind is built for the owner a wealth group was never designed to serve: the operator whose wealth is still locked in the company, and who needs outsiders to look at the operating plan. It is virtual, at most 14 members, with no revenue gate, and I run it as an operator who scaled a company to 150+ people and exited to Canon.
A session follows one spine. Check ins scored 1 to 10, then one member presents the company on a ten slide template, from unit economics to the decisions they are stuck on, and the room answers five fixed prompts. The one that matters most is what the presenter is not seeing.
It is not for anyone who wants their assumptions confirmed. Expect directness, by design.
TIGER 21 FAQ
What is TIGER 21?
TIGER 21 is a peer membership organisation for ultra high net worth investors, entrepreneurs and executives, founded in 1999. Members sit in groups of 12 to 15 led by a paid Chair and meet for a full day each month, 11 times a year. The focus is preserving wealth and life after the operating role, not running a company.
How much does TIGER 21 membership cost?
The organisation publishes its dues. North American groups cost US$34,000 a year plus a US$5,000 initiation fee, so year one comes to US$39,000. Family Office Groups cost US$51,500 a year and Global Groups US$34,000. Dues are adjusted each year in line with a forecast consumer price index for developed economies.
What are the TIGER 21 requirements?
Applicants need at least US$20 million in qualifying net worth or investable assets, excluding personal use assets. Meeting the figure does not guarantee admission. Candidates are vetted on five criteria called the 5Cs, go through background checks and interviews, and commit to attend monthly meetings and not to solicit other members. Revenue, age and headcount gates are not published.
How big is a TIGER 21 group?
Each group is described as 12 to 15 trusted peers. The organisation reports more than 1,900 members in 162 groups across 54 cities, plus virtual groups and family office groups. Regions listed include Asia, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Oceania and the United States. Group composition is driven by wealth rather than industry.
What is the TIGER 21 Portfolio Defense?
The Portfolio Defense is an annual session in which each member presents their whole financial position to their group, which then challenges the allocation and the reasoning behind it. It is the signature practice of the format and reflects its purpose: a peer board for personal wealth decisions rather than for the operations of a single company.
Can you cancel TIGER 21 membership?
The organisation does not publish cancellation terms. Its help and qualifications pages are silent on notice periods, refunds and minimum terms, and its pricing policy page did not resolve when read in October 2026. Anyone weighing membership should ask for the written terms, including what happens to the initiation fee, before signing.
Which board does your next decision need?
TIGER 21 is a well made answer to one question: what should a person with US$20 million or more do with it, and with the years after the operating role. If that is your question and you clear the gate, the published TIGER 21 cost buys a disciplined room with a clear rule against selling.
If your question is still about the company, sort by the decision, not the balance sheet. Write down the three problems that would cost you the most this year. Then pick the room built to argue about them.
If those problems live inside the company, see the operating room.
