Wednesday, September 04, 2013

People

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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