The company that today is Laird Norton Tyee (LNTyee) was founded in 1967 to serve as advocates and stewards for the wealth of the Laird and Norton familes, institutionalizing the informal, family-based relationships that had served family needs since the 1950s. To broaden the asset base and strengthen the business, the company began serving private external clients in 1979. Today, those clients represent approximately 75 percent of our client base.
Beginnings
The Laird and Norton families have practiced strategic transitions and generational wealth transfer for more than 150 years. The legacy was created in 1855 by two brothers and their cousin who jointly operated a milling and manufacturing company in the Midwest. Hard work, ingenuity and the growth of industry built a thriving company with capital for expansion, and in 1900, the Laird and Norton families partnered with Frederick Weyerhaeuser to acquire and manage timberlands in the Pacific Northwest and found the Weyerhaeuser Company.
Diverse Business Growth
By 1963, the Laird and Norton families had founded many companies in the forest product industry, such as Potlatch Lumber Company, Boise Payette Lumber Company and General Timber Company. This success, along with an infusion of capital from the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Weyerhaeuser, resulted in the need for trust administration and asset management services, which prompted the founding of Laird Norton Trust Company.
In 2004, the trust company merged with an entrepreneurial wealth management firm, Tyee Asset Strategies, LLC to create an integrated company serving all of the varied wealth management needs of our clients.
