Moontower is a private equity studio. Our mission is to build enduring companies, lasting partnerships and thriving ecosystems. As an investment platform, we partner with exceptional people and power their generational vision with capital, talent and innovation. Moontower focuses on building businesses linked to financial services and real assets.
Moontower is led by its managing partner, Russell Valdez, and co-founder, Connor Stewart. Russell and Connor have worked together for nearly a decade. Previously, Russell was the Chief Investment Officer of Wafra (a ~$30 billion AUM investment manager), and Connor was Wafra’s Managing Director responsible for financial services. We have invested in, advised, built, financed and sold numerous companies – and taken the entrepreneurial road before. In 2022, we set out to build Moontower as an investment platform with a generational horizon. Given our prior success with and interest in business ecosystems, we created the private equity studio model. We have designed Moontower to share our experience with – and to roll up our sleeves alongside – talented people in order to create extraordinary outcomes.
Our Values
No Moonshots
We concentrate our efforts to build moontowers, rung by rung, together with our partners.
Generational Horizon
We take the long view on building companies and investing in people. We are an impetus for innovation and forward-thinking business practices, drawing on the studio’s network of exceptional executives and professionals.
Empower People
Our operating model allows us to align with and empower talented, mission-driven individuals across the stages of professional development and life. We are committed to helping people and their enterprises reach their full potential.
Build Community
Whether in partnerships, investments or public-minded initiatives, we draw strength, insight and wisdom from our community. We are dedicated to building ecosystems and reinforcing the fabric of our communities through our efforts.
Volunteer Spirit
Humbly and creatively, we strive to give more than we take.
Integrity
Full stop.
Why Moontower?
Austin heritage, innovation, enduring relevance, ever-present stewardship, a beacon, and a gathering place.
Austin’s 13 remaining moonlight towers, or moontowers, are 165 feet tall and each hold six lamps casting illumination over the city. First installed in 1895 and drawing power from the city’s first hydroelectric power plant, Austin’s moontowers brought public electric light to the city’s inhabitants before it was readily accessible. The city’s moontowers brought essential innovation at first, but have evolved in the city’s lore and are lasting to this day. Austin’s moontowers were designated to the National Register of Historic Places and have operated for more than 125 years.
The six circles of Moontower’s logo represent the six lamps of a moontower. The logo captures the progression from dark to light; signifies elucidation and the movement of light; and evokes the forward, uplifting motion we seek to bring to our partnerships.