Fernando De Leon | |
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| Born | October 1, 1978 Brownsville, TX, United States |
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| Website | leoncapitalgroup |
Fernando De Leon (born October 1, 1978) is a Mexican American billionaire businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He is the founder and chief executive officer of Leon Capital Group, a real estate firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas. [1] [2]
In 2025, De Leon received the Horatio Alger Award in recognition of his achievements as a Distinguished American.
De Leon was born in Brownsville, Texas, United States, and raised in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico with his parents and five older siblings. He attended school in Brownsville, where he learned English. [3]
At the age of 12, De Leon represented South Texas in the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. [4] He graduated from Saint Joseph Academy in Brownsville in 1997 and went on to receive a scholarship to attend Harvard College where he graduated cum laude in 2001. [5] [6]
As a teenager, De Leon used his bi-lingual skills as a translator for American developers building in Mexico under new NAFTA regulations. [4]
After college, his first job was as an analyst at Goldman Sachs. He moved on to pursue his own real estate development, beginning with a project in Dallas in 2004. [4]
De Leon founded Leon Capital Group as a real estate development firm in 2006. He was able to invest throughout the 2008 financial crisis and acquire troubled properties and assets. Much of the firm's initial assets were in apartment buildings and retail centers across the southern United States. [4]
In 2015, De Leon began investing in the types of retail businesses that occupied the firm's real estate assets. This started with acquiring a single dentist office but has since expanded into Specialty Dental Brands and Frontline Dental Impact Specialists, which now have 430 locations combined and are owned by Leon Capital Group. [4]
De Leon designed a partnership model within his firm, in which Leon Capital Group shares the equity growth with its retail companies. His partner brands include Mattison Avenue Salons, Turnwell and Advanced MedAesthetic Partners. [7]
Crexi is a commercial real estate data platform started by De Leon and partners in 2015. It is now used by three million people monthly and is the most valuable portfolio company within Leon Capital Group. [4] [8]
In 2022, his foundation launched the De Leon Scholars Program, which awards annual scholarships to students in Texas. [9]
In 2025, De Leon received the Horatio Alger Award, which honors individuals who overcame adversity in reaching their achievements. [6]
De Leon serves on the board of many of the portfolio companies within Leon Capital Group, as well as the Harvard Interviewing Committee. [10]