Carlos Rodriguez, Sr.

Carlos José Rodriguez, Sr. is the Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Driftwood Capital, a vertically integrated real estate investment, lending, development, and hotel management platform focused on the hospitality sector, and a member of the Investment Committee. Mr. Rodriguez, Sr. served as Chief Executive Officer of the firm from its founding until January 2026, when he transitioned to Executive Chairman as part of the company’s long-planned leadership succession.

In his current role, Mr. Rodriguez, Sr. oversees and approves the firm’s overall strategy, investment direction, and major capital allocation decisions, while supporting investor relations and capital formation initiatives. Over nearly four decades in the hospitality and real estate industries, Mr. Rodriguez, Sr. has been directly involved in the financing, development, acquisition, and operation of hotel assets across the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

Mr. Rodriguez, Sr. began his career in investment banking at Thomson McKinnon Securities in New York before returning to Costa Rica to lead and restructure his family’s hotel operations. Mr. Rodriguez, Sr. later founded Cardel Hotel Development and Cardel Hospitality Group, developing and operating multiple branded hotels in South Florida before merging the company with Driftwood Hospitality Management, a precursor to and current division of Driftwood Capital.

Throughout his career, Mr. Rodriguez, Sr. has received numerous industry recognitions, including the Hilton Lifetime Achievement Award, Entrepreneur of the Year for Airport West which is now the City of Doral in Miami-Dade County, and Hotelier of the Year from the Latin Hotel Owners Association, among many other honors.

Mr. Rodriguez, Sr. has also served in several public and private leadership roles, including as a board member of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration; Vice Chairman of Costa Rica’s Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social; a member of the Board of Advisors of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business; a founding board member of Bank of Coral Gables; Chairman of the Miami Neuroscience Institute; and a member of the Operating Board of Baptist Hospital in Kendall, among many other boards.Mr. Rodriguez, Sr. holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with an Accounting minor from Vanderbilt University, a hospitality certificate from Cornell University, and an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.