WASHINGTON – Less than a week after leaving the agency, former NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine joins a private equity firm that invests in the aerospace and defense industry.
Acorn Growth Companies, a private equity firm in Oklahoma City, said on January 25 that they had hired Bridenstine as a senior adviser, who assisted the firm in making investments in aerospace, defense and intelligence companies and supports the company’s current portfolio. .
“My goal is to really look at the opportunities before Acorn, just as far as the companies that have the best value, the highest growth opportunities, and to participate in the formation of the portfolio,” Bridenstine said in an interview said, “and is also part of some of the companies currently in Acorn’s portfolio to optimize returns and grow those companies.”
In his last days as NASA administrator in interviews, Bridenstine did not disclose his future plans once his tenure with the agency ended on January 20th. Asked if he wanted to be involved in the space industry in any way, he said: ‘We’ll have to see. ”
In the interview after joining Acorn, he said the position is well suited for his background, which includes a master’s degree in business administration, as well as his experience at NASA. “I’ve been interested in finance and investing for a while now,” he said, noting Acorn’s work in sectors that are at least adjacent to space. “It was very well based on those things.”
Another factor, he added, is that the work is based in Oklahoma. Bridenstine lives in Tulsa, and he mentions when he leaves NASA that he is looking forward to spending more time with his family there.
For Acorn, hiring Bridenstine enables the firm to leverage its expertise as it builds a new Acorn Aerospace & Defense Fund V. “Jim has a great record,” Acorn managing partner Rick Nagel said in an interview. “He brings the perspective of the entire federal space strategy.”
To date, Acorn has not invested in companies that primarily do business in the space industry. Nagel said he has invested in companies that were a “level 3” supplier to larger contractors, but are now watching more prominent companies. “The companies that are popping up today, making money in the space industry, look different today than they did 10 years ago,” he said. “Some have created a real business model and are earning money and filling a niche.”
Nagel said that Acorn, unlike venture capital firms that make more speculative investments in new ventures, invests in more mature companies that make money but need financing to expand their firms. “Space is now becoming mature enough for us for private equity,” he said. “It just goes on, thanks to the efforts of Administrator Bridenstine, to work hard to ensure that the commercialization of space is a reality.”
Nagel did not want to name the size of the new fund, citing regulations from the Securities and Exchange Commission amid ongoing fundraising activities. The company currently has $ 650 million under management of other investments, and expected the new fund to split its investment evening among aviation, defense and information companies. “The space can run in any of the areas,” he said.
Bridenstine said there are no conflicts of interest that would limit his work at Acorn, with the exception of a ‘cooling-off period’ where he could not represent Acorn at NASA. “Right now, Acorn doesn’t really have a lot of business, if any, directly with NASA,” he said.