Jon
Oksenholt
Investor. Founder. Philanthropist.
Building businesses, investing & owning real estate for more than 30 years.
My Story
I started buying real estate when I was 18 with roughly $10,000.
Separately, I started a service business with $5,100.
I didn’t have outside investors & never really planned on building anything particularly big. I just kept reinvesting, buying real estate, building businesses & trying to make more good decisions than bad ones.
Over the next three decades, the real estate grew into nine-figure holdings & the business ultimately resulted in a nine-figure exit.
Today, I invest my own capital through Oksenholt Capital, continue to own & develop real estate, build new businesses & try to spend my time on things and with people I actually enjoy.
What I Do
Invest
Public equities, real estate & private businesses.
I invest primarily through Oksenholt Capital using permanent family capital. No outside investors, no fundraising & no requirement to put money to work.
Oksenholt Capital →Build
I’ve spent most of my life building, buying & occasionally selling businesses.
Today that includes businesses across hospitality, real estate, technology & other areas where we think we can create something valuable.
Selected Businesses →Give
I’ve been tremendously blessed & believe some of that should be given back.
My giving has focused primarily on children, education, faith & the communities where we live and do business.
Giving Back →How I Think
I don’t have a complicated investment or business philosophy. A few things have worked pretty well for me over the years:
Price matters. A great business can still be a bad investment at the wrong price.
Debt is great when things are going well & absolutely sucks when they aren’t.
People matter. I would rather have the right person with a little less experience than the wrong person with a perfect résumé.
Experience is often overrated. Intelligence, judgment, work ethic & common sense aren’t.
When the facts change, change your mind. Being wrong is expensive. Staying wrong is worse.
And maybe most importantly
Love, Loyalty & Cashflow.
Selected Investments & Businesses
Oksenholt Capital
A family investment company investing permanent capital across public equities, real estate & private businesses.
Visit Oksenholt Capital →
Secret Sauce Brands
Building & investing in hospitality, lodging, restaurants, technology & businesses where we believe we can do something different or better.
Visit Secret Sauce Brands →
Real Estate
I’ve been investing in real estate since I was 18.
Today our holdings & investments include multifamily, hospitality, residential development, commercial properties & other opportunistic real estate investments.
Technology
I like businesses where technology can eliminate unnecessary work, improve an existing industry or create something that simply didn’t exist before.
Ideas & Research
Occasionally I find something interesting enough to write about.
This is where I share selected investment research, ideas & things I believe deserve a closer look.
Featured Research
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac & U.S. FinTech
Research and proposals regarding the future of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac & U.S. FinTech, including valuation, corporate structure, competition & opportunities to create significant long-term value.
View Research →Giving Back
I’ve been tremendously blessed.
I’ve always believed that giving some of it back isn’t complicated. It’s simply part of the deal.
I believe in giving at least 10% each year, with much of my giving focused on children, education, faith & communities where we can make a meaningful difference.
Some of that giving is public. Most of it isn’t.
About Jon
Jon Oksenholt is an investor, founder & philanthropist who has spent more than three decades building businesses, investing in real estate & allocating his own capital.
He began investing in real estate at 18 and separately built a service business from an initial $5,100 investment. That business ultimately grew into a large multi-state operation and resulted in a nine-figure exit.
Today, Jon invests through Oksenholt Capital and continues to own, develop & invest in real estate and build new businesses.
Jon earned his B.A. from Walla Walla University and his J.D. from the University of Washington.