Ricardo Salinas Anchors $40M Raise for ORANGE JUICE

ORANGE JUICE launched on July 15, 2026, after a $40 million anchor raise led by Ricardo Salinas. The Westport, Connecticut-based permanent-capital company will acquire small businesses and direct part of their retained earnings into a corporate bitcoin treasury.

The firm will target companies producing $1 million to $10 million in annual cash flow. Executives said they intend to hold acquisitions indefinitely rather than resell them within a typical private equity fund cycle. Retained earnings from portfolio companies will fund new purchases and bitcoin buys, with limited use of debt or frequent equity issuance.

Ricardo Salinas, founder and chairman of Grupo Salinas, committed as the anchor investor. Salinas, whose conglomerate employs more than 170,000 people in Latin America, commented, “Cash flow is king, and you cannot count on governments to protect the value of your money. This company is built on both, cash flowing companies and a Bitcoin treasury. That is why I am backing this team.” Lyn Alden, a partner in the founding group, announced the raise from ORANGE JUICE’s Westport headquarters.

Ruben Zweiban will serve as operating partner and run daily operations. Zweiban is a U.S. Naval Academy and Oxford graduate who served as a Navy SEAL officer with five deployments. He later worked in investment banking at Bank of America Securities and equity research at JPMorgan Asset Management, and most recently was chief investment officer for a private multi-family office.

Sellers will be offered a mix of cash and equity in ORANGE JUICE, allowing founders to retire, remain involved, or step back gradually while keeping a stake in future growth. Founding partner Nico Lechuga said the firm’s structure provides an alternative to typical buyouts, noting that founders often seek options other than quick sales.

The founding group includes executives associated with Ego Death Capital, a venture firm focused on bitcoin infrastructure. Partners on the team include Jeff Booth, Lyn Alden, Nico Lechuga and Andi Pitt; Adrian Steckel is also among the founders. Booth previously built and scaled an online building materials marketplace before focusing on bitcoin investing.

ORANGE JUICE plans to build an in-house team to help acquired companies adopt artificial intelligence tools aimed at improving productivity. The firm also signaled plans for a future public listing intended to create a liquid currency for deals and access to capital markets, not primarily to cash out early investors.

Legal work on the raise was handled by Latham & Watkins. The company said it will disclose details on specific acquisitions and its bitcoin holdings as deals close. ORANGE JUICE cited other corporate treasury approaches used since 2020 and pointed to a Brazilian firm that has built a bitcoin position using operating cash flow as a regional example.