Juan Carlos Escotet Rodríguez (born 1959) is a Spanish-Venezuelan

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The ...

banker and the founder of

Banesco Banesco Banco Universal C.A. is a Venezuelan financial institution whose principal branch is located in Caracas. The bank is part of the Asociación Bancaria de Venezuela (Venezuela's Banking Association). Banesco has 340 branches all over Vene ...

, the largest private financial institution in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...

. As of March 2022, his reported net worth is estimated at US$3.5 billion.

Early life

Juan Carlos Escotet was born in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), an ...

in 1959 as one of eight immigrant children in Spain. He began his work life performing errands for Banco Union in Venezuela in 1976 during which he also attended night school. He later earned a master's degree in professional management science from the University of Miami School of Business at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, ...

Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Coral Gables is known globally as home to the ...

Career

After earning his MBA, Escotet worked as an executive for Sociedad Financiera Latinoamericana and then creating his own financial group. In the 1990s, Escotet bought out Venezuelan financial institutions that were then going through a financial and banking crisis. He also set up his own establishment in

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

. Escotet founded

, which is now the largest private financial institution in Venezuela. In 2000, Banco Union was absorbed into Banesco in a merger agreement. He owns other branches in Miami, Panama, Colombia,

Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coas ...

, the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

and

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

. In 2015, Escotet acquired Spain-based NCG Banco, which was later renamed

Abanca ABANCA Corporación Bancaria, S.A. is a Spanish bank based in Galicia. It was created in 2011 following the "bankisation" of Novacaixagalicia savings bank. It operates in the autonomous communities of Galicia, Asturias and the province of Le� ...

Personal life

Escotet is married and has four children. He resides in

A Coruña A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and ...

, Spain.

References

External links

Juan Carlos Escotet biography
at ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' Living people 1959 births University of Miami Business School alumni Venezuelan bankers Venezuelan billionaires Venezuelan company founders {{Venezuela-bio-stub