What happens when a holding company thinks like an immigrant, moves like an entrepreneur, and plays the long game with permanent capital? In this episode, we unpack the operating system of Fernando De Leon and Leon Capital Group—a family holding company that conceives, develops, owns, and operates businesses across real estate, financial services, healthcare, and technology.

Capitalpad lets accredited investors co-invest deal by deal in curated, cash-flowing SMB acquisitions led by searchers and independent sponsors. Get a full deal room—financials, tax returns, sponsor profiles, and value-creation plans—then invest from $25k. These are long-term, illiquid investments and involve risk.
Apply at: https://capitalpad.com/

Want brokers, operators, and investors to think of you first? That’s why I partner with Spacebar Studios—they build and scale B2B newsletters. They’ll set up your newsletter, send your first few editions, and prove the channel works—no fees, zero risk.
They’re offering three HoldCo Builders listeners a free two-week trial.
Go to: https://www.spacebarstudios.co/inquire

You’ll learn:

00:00 - Intro & Leon Capital Group overview
02:26 - Border-childhood & immigrant mindset
05:24 - Turning labor into equity at 14
07:21 - Harvard takeaways & Goldman “pipes of money”
12:37 - Four questions to decode deal headlines
13:17 - Move to Dallas (2003) & flood-map/option flip
14:41 - Sponsor: CapitalPad
16:00 - 2008 crisis: speed over perfection; spouse’s push
17:21 - Going all-in 200×; distressed loans & 24-condo flip
18:04 - Broker flywheel & long-term loyalty
20:32 - Sponsor: Spacebar Studios
21:42 - PropCo/OpCo playbook → to 265 dental clinics
25:02 - Build it in-house: Patient Capital financing
25:51 - Cut out middlemen: insurance brokerage
26:41 - Crexi origin story: data, auctions, listings
28:38 - Wrap-up & next-episode teaser

Support our Sponsors:
CapitalPad: https://capitalpad.com/
SpaceBar Studios: https://www.spacebarstudios.co/inquire

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This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.