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Gustavo Cisneros: Now It’s Adriana's Turn
Cisneros Chairman Gustavo
Cisneros talks to Latinvex about the appointment
of his daughter Adriana as CEO and his own legacy as CEO.
BY JOACHIM BAMRUD
In this
exclusive interview with Latinvex, Cisneros Chairman Gustavo
Cisneros talks about the appointment of his daughter Adriana as CEO and his own
legacy as CEO.
Latinvex: The appointment of Adriana as
CEO had been expected. Why did you decide to appoint her now?
Cisneros: I am very proud to appoint
Adriana as Cisneros’s CEO. While the succession has been a natural step, this
was a process that was well organized and properly planned.
During
the past seven years, Adriana has been preparing for this moment, and in her
role as Vice Chairman and Director of Strategy, she has more than demonstrated
this.
True
to the Cisneros tradition of diversification, she has lead the creation of
Cisneros Interactive, the organization’s digital media division, which is
currently quite diverse in terms of online and mobile advertising, e-commerce,
social gaming, crowd funding and fan-funding; in addition to the company’s
expansion into real estate development.
I
am sure this is the right moment and under her leadership Cisneros will continue
to explore new paths, and with the support of a great legacy and the ideal
team, she’ll successfully confront any challenge.
Latinvex: What are you most
proud of from your own time as CEO?
Primarily,
having bolstered Cisneros’s international expansion, thanks to a strategy based
on diversification and synergy, was one of my greatest achievements. Even
during the seventies, I had a clear vision of where we were going, and we started
laying down the foundation that would allow us to take the decisive step of
becoming an authentic multinational company in the eighties.
This
period started with the acquisition of the American Bottling (ABB) in 1981, our
first experience in LBO [leverage buy-out], a phenomenon that would change the
face of Wall Street forever, and the purchase of AAB reflected that
transformation. One by one, Spalding, Evenflo, Galerías Preciados were added to
our portfolio. Of course, one of our most successful operations was the
purchase of Univision in 1992, which we later sold in 2007.
Latinvex: To what degree
will you and Steven Bandel be involved in Cisneros with Adriana as CEO?
Personally,
I am a firm believer of the right of the younger generation to do things their
own way. As the second generation, I worked with what my father left me and
lead the company through a period of successful international expansion.
Now,
it’s Adriana’s turn. She has accepted the family legacy. She has embraced the
principles and values we have instilled in her wholeheartedly and
instinctively. She has started her executive career on the right foot and she
has a very clear and innovative vision as to where the company should continue
to expand.
She is prepared to take the company to a greater level, and both Steven and I will continue to support her in this new stage, myself as Chairman and Steven as Co-chairman.
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