Founder & Principal
JAMES WRIGHT
Based in Indian Wells, California.
James spent his early career inside the private family office of Jim Downey — one of Orange County’s most successful self-made entrepreneurs — where he contributed to the acquisition, integration, and operational improvement of two aerospace manufacturing companies that collectively grew to $300M+ in enterprise value before exits to PE-backed AC&A and Boeing.
Since founding Pagurian, James has been involved in financing and operating $250M+ of real estate across 26 properties, and has built and acquired businesses across pest control, self-storage, and consumer brands. He is an operator and owner who brings systems, teams, management cadence, and infrastructure to scale.
- Education
- MBA · UCLA Anderson
- BS Engineering · Western Washington University
A short record of the work
Selected chapters.
EARLY
Jim Downey family office
Aerospace manufacturing work — historical chapter before Pagurian.
2013
Pagurian founded
Permanent-capital holding company. Built to own for a long time.
2023
Nomad Storage
PNW self-storage. Control owned. Still held.
2025
TinyPest
Southern California pest control. Control owned. Still held.
GREG MUMPOWER
Special Advisor
Aerospace & defense ops · Anduril
EMAD HASAN
Technical Advisor
AI / product · Amazon
DAN MORRIS
EIR
Exited entrepreneur · DTC
LIZ ELERT
Marketing
Brand · Fortune 500 CMO
Get in touch
IF YOU CARE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT, WRITE.
Sellers, operators, brokers, and real-estate partners. Conversations stay confidential.
james@pagurianholdings.com →Company Overview
Since our inception, we have advanced organizations across sectors by pairing strategic insight with disciplined execution.
Proven Expertise
Decades of combined experience underpin every recommendation we issue.
Comprehensive Solutions
Integrated teams eliminate handoff delays and data silos.