Latin American's media mogul

You have probably never heard of Gustavo Cisneros, Venezuelan business man and Latin America's media mogul and one of the richest men in the world with an estimated fortune of about $ 4 Billion US dollars according to Forbes magazine.

Gustavo Cisneros was born on the 20 of November 1945 in Caracas (capital of Venezuela). He is son of Venezuelan Business men Diego Cisneros. In 1940 Diego Cisneros received Pepsi concession for the Venezuelan market. Also the Cisneros group expanded and gain the concession for TV station Venevision in 1961.

Gustavo Cisneros graduated from Suffield Academy in 1963 and Badson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts in 1968 where he did Economic studies and graduated as Cum Laude.

In 1970 he married Patricia Phelps, Granddaughter of William Henry Phelp founder of the Business group 1BC in Venezuela and owner of RCTV (Radio Caracas Television) former TV station in Venezuela, the first TV broadcaster in the country.

After Gustavo Cisneros’s graduation from Badson Collage he returns to Venezuela ready to assume the command of the Cisneros organization (Cisneros Family business group), he managed to make their PepsiCo concession of bottling and distribution of Pepsi cola in Venezuela the number 1 cola drink in Venezuela with a 70% market share, they also managed to gain the commercialization of the product in Brazil becoming then the biggest bottling company for Pepsi Cola International.

Throughout the year 1974 Cisneros speeds up an aggressive expansion for the Cisneros group, he penetrates the liquor market by establishing O’ Caña distribuidores, he also establish his media empire even further by building a national radio group Radiovsion with radio broadcasting across Venezuela. He then will gain control of the supermarket chain CADA and undertakes an expansion making it the largest supermarket store chains in the country.

During the 1980’s Cisneros diversified the group’s operations even further, they started a Record label (Rodven), and gets the rights of the fast food change Burger King in Venezuela. They gain control of Miss Venezuela (Venezuela beauty contest). He gain the rights to represents American retailer SEARS in Venezuela and becomes the largest retail stores in Venezuela under the name Maxy’s. He gains exclusive rights to Pizza Hut and Apple in Venezuela.

The Cisneros group headed by Gustavo Cisneros gain control of Spalding and Evenflo in North America in 1984, many other companies were acquire by the Cisneros group during this decade anything from real estate developments in London to video producers and mining companies and food industries in Venezuela, diversification could be a great title for the Cisneros group during this decade.

Over the last two decades the Cisneros group started a brewing company (Cerveceria Regional), a Latin television network in North America (Univision), he also acquired other TV stations and music groups through Latin America, and satellite TV provider DIRECTV Latin America, started Telcel de Venezuela the first mobile telecommunications company in Venezuela to be sold later to American company Bellshouth and bought Venezuela’s third largest telecommunications company Digitel, just to name a few of the companies that Gustavo Cisnero acquired or started during the last two decades.

Gustavo Cisneros runs a philanthropic organization (The Cisneros Foundation) which has a wide range of social, educational and cultural programs across Latin America, helping children to achieve a greater education in Spanish speaking countries.

He currently lives in La Romana, Dominican Republic and has three nationalities, Venezuelan, Spanish and Dominican, and is presently developing a multi-billion dollar resort in Miches near Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.