When Leo Rodriguez ’73 retired as chairman and CEO of Emerson Latin America in 2018, he was managing operations exceeding several billion dollars a year.  

But it wasn’t long before he realized retirement wasn’t for him. In January 2024, he joined the Board of Directors of SpaceFund, an international space venture capital firm. The move was about more than just getting involved in the company’s day-to-day operations to drive growth; it was about returning to work, at age 73, while also having the opportunity to mentor the next generation and better position the United States in the space race, he says.  

Founded in 2018, SpaceFund partners with private companies that are either doing commercial work in space, working toward establishing an ecosystem that can self-sustain in space, or working strictly on propulsion for satellites. With 21 portfolio companies, SpaceFund looks to Rodriguez (who had served the board previously in an advisory role) to bring his extensive experience in high-growth technology companies to bring growth. 

After his 40-year career at Emerson, Rodriguez joined Jaguar Precision Machine as an equity partner. Jaguar is an advanced precision machining enterprise serving the commercial space industry, national security, and defense customers. Through that work, he realized the massive business potential of the growing space economy. 

“What SpaceFund is doing is fascinating,” says Rodriguez, a native of Cuba. “I saw an opportunity to meet new people, work with the younger generation and learn about incredible technology. It’s a wonderful thing to be able to help others,” he says, while also working with some of the nation’s leading space entrepreneurs to capitalize on a relatively new investable asset. 

“You have companies like JP Morgan and McKinsey & Company creating AI and Space Divisions as asset classes,” he says. 

According to Rodriguez, while tourism is a headline-grabbing part of the work being conducted in space, SpaceFund’s core asset class portfolio is really geared toward “national defense and keeping the United States at the forefront with proprietary technologies that provide a sustainable competitive advantage.” Rodriguez cites applications in cislunar space, the area between the Earth and the moon, as a prime example of the development areas SpaceFund has honed in on. 

Rodriguez believes there is a race in space never seen before, but notes that most people aren’t aware of that because of proprietary and national defense requirements. As for when he’ll take his first foray into space, Rodriguez jokes that flying has never really been for him. 

“I like to fish,” he says with a laugh. “I’d rather stay on the ground or be in a boat fly fishing on the bay side of the Keys!” 

– Charles O’Brien