IE Business School is a graduate and undergraduate

business school A business school is a higher education institution or professional school that teaches courses leading to degrees in business administration or management. A business school may also be referred to as school of management, management school, s ...

, located in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It was founded in 1973 under the name Instituto de Empresa (lit. Institute of Business) and is part of IE University since 2007. IE Business School is known for its master's program in management, which has been well ranked by numerous publications. It maintains a global network of approximately 220 partner universities, while also offering dual-degree programs. The institution runs BBA, MBA, Executive MBA, master's degree programs in finance and

management Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a Government agency, government bodies through business administration, Nonprofit studies, nonprofit management, or the political s ...

, executive education programs, PhD, and DBA programs.

History

IE Business School was established in 1973 in Madrid, Spain and was founded by entrepreneurs with a focus on entrepreneurship in business education. The school has especially emphasized on diversity. In 2001, it launched its first blended program and in 2002 its e-learning unit. Over the years, the school has earned the “ triple crown” accreditation in 2002, a distinction held by only 1% of business schools worldwide. IE Tower

In 2010, IE opened Area 31, a dedicated co-working space for its entrepreneurship center and incubator for numerous startups. In 2011, the school has launched its IE-Brown Executive MBA together with Brown University, an Ivy League university. The program has been ranked highly on a regular basis. In response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in 2020, IE introduced its “ Liquid Learning” model, combining online learning sessions with onsite residentials. In 2021, the business school opened a new campus called IE Tower in Madrid’s financial district. The same year, former American McKinsey consultant, Lee Newman was appointed as dean of the business school replacing Martin Böhm who moved on to EBS University as a new in September 2021.

Degrees

IE Business School offers a variety of bachelor, master and doctorate degrees. It was one of the first institutions in Spain and Europe to offer the MBA degree in 1974.

Campus

Maria de Molina Campus

IE Business School has multiple campuses globally and one of its main campuses is centrally situated in Madrid in Barrio de Salamanca, the luxury district. This campus currently occupies a total area of 28,000 square metres (2.8 ha), distributed among 17 buildings along the street Calle Maria de Molina, and is primarily used for postgraduate studies.

Segovia Campus

Additionally, IE Business School maintains a campus in

Segovia Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia. Segovia is located in the Meseta central, Inner Pl ...

, housed in the historic Convent of Santa Cruz la Real, an ancient monastery from the 12th century and characterized as a UNESCO World Heritage, which provides a traditional setting for undergraduate programs as well. The convent, founded in 1218 and closely linked to the Dominican Order, is characterized by its Romanesque and

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High Middle Ages, High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved f ...

. Legends connect its origins to the penance of Saint Dominic of Guzmán in a nearby cave, while 15th‑century patronage by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella led to extensive reconstruction under architect Juan Guas and sculptor Sebastián de Almonacid. This renovation produced a monumental church with an off-center portal rich in religious and political symbolism. After the dissolution of the Dominican community in 1836, the building was repurposed as a hospice and nursing home before being restored for educational use.

IENYC Campus

In 2024, IE has opened an institution with a new campus in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

called IENYC offering US-accredited master programs focusing on business and sustainability. Campuses of IE Business Schools worldwide Exterior view of IE Business School campuses in Madrid and Segovia. File:IE Business School Segovia Campus.jpg, Segovia Campus File:IE Business School MM31.jpg, Maria de Molina 31 Campus File:IE Business School (Madrid) 01.jpg, Maria de Molina 11 Campus

Student Life

Student Organizations

With over 6,000 students and 130 nationalities represented in the student body, there are numerous student-led clubs with different themes such as a Model United Nations club, the Private Equity and Venture Capital club, the 180 Degrees Consulting club, the TEDx club as well as several country specific societies. IE Business School Class

Student publications

The university hosts student-run publications: * The Storck: a campus magazine run by the student society. * IE International Policy Review: a student-led academic journal founded in 2018 with occasional collaborations with the academic journals of Sciences Po and Princeton University.

Campus Life

Campus Life is a dedicated department at IE Business School and its overall university which organizes several recurring events per year. Furthermore, the department facilitates the founding of student clubs. In 2025, the business school has more than 170 student clubs across undergraduate, graduate and doctorate studies.

Traditions

There are several annual traditions at IE business school and the overall IE University. IE Day Each year the overall IE University hosts the IE Day, a festival day that unites students, faculty, staff, and alumni in a display of its school spirit. Since its inception in the late 2010s, it includes live performances, scavenger hunts, dance acts, exhibitions and community events. Hay Festival Segovia Hay Festival Segovia, is an offshoot of the original Hay Festival in Wales, which began in 2006. Hosted partly on IE University’s historic Segovia campus, the festival has grown into one of Spain’s main cultural events, attracting authors, artists, and thinkers for a series of talks, workshops, and performances that promote dialogue and cultural exchange. Global Village Global Village is an annual, student-organized event that celebrates the cultural diversity of IE University. Held each spring, it transforms campus spaces into an international fair where country-specific booths, performances, and culinary displays highlight the heritage of its global community. South Summit South Summit is an annual conference held in Madrid since 2012 that focuses on entrepreneurship. Founded by María Benjumea in collaboration with IE Business School during a period of economic uncertainty, the event was initially designed to revitalize Spain’s startup ecosystem. Over time, it has expanded its international scope with satellite editions in Latin America and Asia, attracting early-stage startups, investors, and corporate representatives. The conference includes pitch competitions, panel discussions, and networking sessions, and is regarded as a forum for discussing trends in venture capital, public policy, and collaborative innovation across Europe. IE contributes to South Summit by integrating academic research and mentorship programs, with faculty and students actively participating to bridge theoretical insights with practical experience.

International rankings

IE Business School is considered the 10th best business school in Europe in 2024 according to the Financial Times.

Notable people

Notable faculty

* Enrico Letta – Former

Prime Minister of Italy The prime minister of Italy, officially the president of the Council of Ministers (), is the head of government of the Italy, Italian Republic. The office of president of the Council of Ministers is established by articles 92–96 of the Co ...

* Paolo Gentiloni – Former

* Iván Duque – Former President of Colombia * Filipe Calderón – Former

President of Mexico The president of Mexico (), officially the president of the United Mexican States (), is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the Constitution of Mexico, the president heads the executive branch of the federal government and ...

Notable Alumni * Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange - Princess of the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

* Maya Gnyp - Oscar and Emmy nominated film producer * Isabel Yordi Aguirre - former CEO of Tabacalera * Meinrad Spenger - Co-Founder of MásMóvil * Bernard Niesner - Co-Founder of Busuu

Partner universities

There are several partnerships with universities and business schools worldwide for exchange and double degree opportunities. Some of them include:

Europe

* University of St.Gallen - Switzerland * WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management - Germany * Frankfurt School of Finance and Management - Germany * University of Mannheim - Germany * Bucerius Law School - Germany * Sciences Po - France * EDHEC Business School - France * ESSEC Business School - France * Imperial College London - UK * London Business School - UK *

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

- UK * Bocconi University - Italy * Aalto University School of Economics - Finland * BI Norwegian Business School - Norway * RSM - Rotterdam School of Management - Netherlands

America

* Brown University - USA * Cornell University - USA * University of Chicago Booth School of Business - USA *

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

- USA * Dartmouth University, USA * NYU Stern School of Business - USA * Fletcher School at Tufts University - USA * Babson College - USA * Smith School of Business, Queen’s University - Canada * Schulich School of Business, York University - Canada

Asia

* National University of Singapore - Singapore * Nanyang Technological University - Singapore * Singapore Management University - Singapore * Indian School of Business - India * Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta - India * Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad - India * Hong Kong University of Science and Technology - Hong Kong * Tsinghua University - China * Fudan University - China *

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

- Australia * Melbourne Business School - Australia

References

External links

* {{Authority control Business schools in Spain Educational institutions established in 1973 1973 establishments in Spain IE University