Caleb Williams Makes His Mark As An Investor

In only his second NFL season Caleb Williams has helped a turned-around Chicago Bears franchise post a 9-4 record, going into Week 15. The Bears’ have largely outplayed most of their game day rivalsthrough a combination of a good running game, an improved offensive line, and enough late game Harry Houdini-style theatrics to pull off half a dozen one-score wins so far in 2025.

Chicago entered this past Sunday as the No. 1 seed in the NFC and atop of the standings in the NFC North. In a close, back-and-forth game versus the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, the Bears fell to their longtime rivals 28-21, but are set for a rematch at Soldier Field in two weeks.

The previous weekend, the Bears posted a decisive win against the Philadelphia Eagles on Black Friday, Nov. 28, going up 10-3 in the first half, before closing out the Super Bowl Champions with 23-15 win in Philadelphia.

Despite criticism from everywhere, Williams has stayed focused and continued to drive his team toward is first playof appearence since 2020.

While Williams hopes to take the Bears deep into this upcoming postseason and make his mark as a franchise quarterback, he’s also planning to make his mark long-term in the investment sector. He’s established a private equity investment and business advisory firm called 888 Midas.

I connected with Williams a week ago, as he and the Bears were preparing for their Week 14 game versus the Green Bay Packers, at Lambeau Field. I asked Williams about the genesis of his new investment firm.

“I’ve always envisioned myself as both an athlete and an entrepreneur,” Williams said, adding, “I realized early on how important it is to build with the best team and foundation for my business interests.”

Williams explained that the “team mindset” is where his idea to create 888 Midas came from.

“As an athlete, I’ve learned that success comes from consistency, discipline, and vision—principles that also drive everything we do at 888 Midas. With 888 Midas, our goal is to help build the next generation of impactful brands.”

Williams founded 888 Midas with seasoned entrepreneurs and investment pros John Terzian and Ross Walker, as managing partners. Also part of the team are Sherif Guirgis, their senior private equity executive focused on the consumer sector, and Lew Wolff, who has a track record of investing in and acquiring major sports ventures.

Thus far, 888 Midas has been assembling what it calls a “next-generation portfolio at the intersection of sports, health, and technology,” with investment positions in such well-known up-and-coming brands such as Athletic Brewing, Function Health, Goop Kitchen and Boston Legacy FC, a new National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) expansion franchise.

Terzian and Walker believe that the firm’s story underscores how Williams and his team are building “an investment model that blends cultural relevance with long-term value creation, in a more strategic evolution of athlete-led investing.”

“We are focused on private alternative investments, which includes venture capital and growth equity activities,” Walker explained, via email.

“The investment approach has been opportunistic to start as we refine our interests, strengths and infrastructure,” added Walker. We have gravitated towards health/wellness, sports and tech as these are naturally important to Caleb. We are in the planning stages of broadening our investor base, to take greater advantage of proprietary opportunities.”

Terzian said that Williams and his partners originally when Williams and his father, Carl, were casually introduced to Wolff and Walker via a mutual connection before Caleb started his college football career.

“They hit it off and Lew (Wolff), a serial professional sports team owner, (and) had the idea to formalize a mentorship relationship with Caleb similar to what Lew had done decades ago for other young professional athletes, exposing them to business.

Terzian sand that soon after, while Williams was at USC, the men become a more “close knit team” and evolved to the firm’s first stage, or “the incubation of 888 Midas.” Terzian also said he thinks the model and investment strategy that 888 Midas is building is unique. “We feel we are creating a framework that has never been done before for a professional athlete at the start of a career versus the twilight.”

Caleb Williams: Long-term focus on and off the field

Williams first caught national attention in 2022, during Lincoln Riley’s first season as head coach at USC. The young quarterback had landed with the Trojans after a season at Oklahoma. That season, USC went 11-3 overall, conceding their only conference loss in the PAC-12 Championship game, versus Utah.

After a standout season with 42 passing touchdowns for the Trojans, Williams became the AP College Football Player of the Year and was named 2022’s Heisman Trophy winner. The Chicago Bears selected Williams first overall in the 2024 draft.

During our exchange, Williams indicated that he plans to use the same drive and competitive intuition in his investment career as he has to become a successful football player.

“The greatest competitors in the world pursue excellence both on and off the field. I’ve always looked up to those who create moments and explore their interests while competing at the highest level,” said Williams.

He stated that he believes that athletes like him have an incredible opportunity to build their own brands, as well as “invest in companies and take on influential roles that help create a meaningful platform. 888 Midas is the next step in a larger vision for how I want to make an impact off the field.”

With the same energy, Williams wants to identify the best-of-breed among growth companies and startup ventures as ideal blocks with which to build 888 Midas’s portfolio.

“We prioritize backing founders in fields where ideas influence culture and shape the future. From wellness and technology to women’s sports, our investments are focused on driving cultural impact and creating long-term value.”

Read Frye’s interviews with Urban Meyer and Russell Wilson.

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