Emilio Botin dies at 79; banker built Banco Santander into global giant
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Spanish banking magnate Emilio Botin, who built the country’s Banco Santander into a global financial giant and was widely seen as the nation’s most influential business leader, died Tuesday night after having a heart attack at his home in Madrid, a company spokeswoman said. He was 79.
Born into a family of bankers, Botin was known for his hands-on leadership. He turned Banco Santander, previously run by his father, into Spain’s biggest bank and then into the Eurozone’s largest by market capitalization through a prolonged and aggressive series of acquisitions. He also transformed it into a major bank in Latin America.
Botin was known for visiting bank branches to meet with employees and had influence in political circles in Spain and abroad, rubbing shoulders frequently with Spain’s royalty and prime ministers and Latin American heads of state. He didn’t hesitate, however, to criticize government economic policies in the media when he disagreed with them.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Botin seemed fine and in good health when the two had a meeting last week.
His death is “a surprise and at the same time a big blow. He was a great ambassador for the Spanish brand,” Rajoy told reporters in the halls of Parliament.
Under his leadership, the bank boosted its name recognition and influence across Spain by financing university programs, scholarships and social and cultural events.
The bank’s 10 main markets are in Spain, Brazil, Britain, Mexico, Portugal, Germany, Chile, Argentina, Poland and the United States. It has 102 million customers and more than 186,000 employees.
Botin and 11 relatives were investigated in 2011 for possible income and wealth tax evasion focusing on accounts the family held in Switzerland, but Spain’s National Court dropped the probe in 2012.
The Botin family’s lawyers said the accounts stemmed from assets Botin’s father held outside Spain when he died and that about $259 million in back taxes were paid to normalize the situation.
Botin and his wife, Paloma O’Shea, had six children. Banco Santander’s board of directors unanimously appointed Botin’s eldest daughter, Ana, chief executive of Santander UK in London, to replace him as chairman, the company said in a statement.
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