Ricardo Salinas anchored a $40 million raise for ORANGE JUICE on July 15, 2026. Lyn Alden announced the fundraise from the company's headquarters in Westport, Connecticut. The firm targets businesses generating $1 million to $10 million in annual cash flow and plans to hold acquisitions indefinitely rather than reselling within four to seven years like traditional private equity funds. Salinas, founder and chairman of Latin American conglomerate Grupo Salinas, built a company serving millions of customers with over 170,000 employees across the region. The company will use retained earnings from acquired businesses to fund new acquisitions and bitcoin purchases, distinguishing itself from bitcoin holding firms that rely primarily on outside capital.
Ruben Zweiban Leads Daily Operations With Military and Banking Background
Ruben Zweiban will run daily operations as operating partner. Zweiban graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and Oxford, then spent a decade as a Navy SEAL officer with five deployments. He later worked as an investment banker at BofA Securities and as an equity research analyst at JPMorgan Asset Management. Most recently, he served as chief investment officer of a billion-dollar private multi-family office.
The founding team comes largely from Ego Death Capital, a venture capital firm focused on bitcoin infrastructure. Booth, Alden, Nico Lechuga, and Andi Pitt all hold partner roles there. Adrian Steckel rounds out the founding group. Booth built and scaled Builddirect, an online building materials marketplace, before turning to bitcoin investing full-time. Alden is a macro analyst known for her writing on energy markets, monetary policy, and corporate bitcoin adoption.
ORANGE JUICE Targets Small Businesses With Indefinite Hold Strategy
The company plans to target businesses generating $1 million to $10 million in annual cash flow. Sellers receive a mix of cash and equity in the new company, letting them keep a stake in future growth. Founders can retire, stay on, or step back gradually.
Nico Lechuga, one of the founding partners, said the model addresses a gap left by traditional buyout funds. "Building a business takes decades," Lechuga said. "Founders deserve more than one path when it's time to transition ownership."
The plan differs from a standard private equity fund. Instead of buying businesses, cutting costs, and reselling them within four to seven years, the company intends to hold what it buys indefinitely.
Cash Flow Funds Bitcoin Purchases and New Acquisitions
Retained earnings from acquired businesses will fund two things: new acquisitions and bitcoin purchases. The company explained that it plans to use debt and equity issuance sparingly, relying instead on operating cash flow to grow.
That structure sets the company apart from pure bitcoin holding firms, which typically depend on outside capital to keep buying and carry more price volatility as a result. Strategy, the company formerly known as Microstrategy, popularized the corporate bitcoin treasury model starting in 2020. OranjeBTC, a publicly traded firm in Brazil, has built a bitcoin position of roughly 3,900 BTC as of mid-2026 using a similar approach in Latin America.
The company also plans to build an in-house team to help acquired businesses adopt artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Executives said AI is driving one of the largest productivity shifts in decades and that portfolio companies need support navigating it.
Company Plans Public Listing to Access Capital Markets
ORANGE JUICE intends to pursue a public listing at some point. Unlike a typical initial public offering (IPO) used to cash out early investors, executives framed the listing as a way to give the company a liquid currency for deals and access to capital markets while keeping its holdings intact.
Legal work on the raise was handled by Latham & Watkins. The company said further details on acquisitions and its bitcoin treasury will follow as deals close.
FAQ
What did Ricardo Salinas do on July 15, 2026?
Ricardo Salinas, founder and chairman of Grupo Salinas, anchored a $40 million fundraise for bitcoin treasury firm ORANGE JUICE. The company announced the raise from its headquarters in Westport, Connecticut, with plans to target businesses generating $1 million to $10 million in annual cash flow.
How does ORANGE JUICE differ from traditional private equity funds?
ORANGE JUICE plans to hold acquired businesses indefinitely rather than reselling them within four to seven years like traditional private equity funds. The company will use retained earnings from acquired businesses to fund new acquisitions and bitcoin purchases, relying on operating cash flow instead of frequent debt and equity issuance.
Who will run daily operations at ORANGE JUICE?
Ruben Zweiban will run daily operations as operating partner. Zweiban graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and Oxford, spent a decade as a Navy SEAL officer with five deployments, and worked as an investment banker at BofA Securities and equity research analyst at JPMorgan Asset Management before serving as chief investment officer of a billion-dollar private multi-family office.
