Mario López Estrada (21 March 1938 – 20 March 2023) was a Guatemalan

telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

businessman and billionaire. He was the president and main shareholder of Tigo Guatemala.

Biography

López Estrada studied Civil Engineering at Guatemala's San Carlos University. He started his professional career working as a public employee in Municipalidad de Guatemala (Guatemala City Hall) and Central Government. He then became an entrepreneur in the construction of roads across Guatemala and later housing projects. In 1972, he founded Constructora Maya, an independent construction company. From 1986 to 1991, he worked as Minister for Communications, Infrastructure and Housing during the government of President

Vinicio Cerezo Marco Vinicio Cerezo Arévalo (born December 26, 1942) is a Guatemalan politician who served as the 40th President of Guatemala from 1986 to 1991. He also served as the Secretary General of the Central American Integration System (SICA) from 2 ...

.Blake Schmidt
Carlos Slim Bested by Mobile Billionaire in Guatemala
''

Bloomberg Business ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'' (and before that ''Business Week'' and ''The Business Week''), is an American monthly business magazine published 12 times a year. The magazine debuted in New York City in Septembe ...

'', 4 August 2014 In 1993, he acquired a share of Comunicaciones Celulares, the state-owned, monopolistic telecommunications company that was about to be privatized. His participation in Comcel grew to 45% through successive share purchases. Comcel became the country's largest

mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...

service provider and was renamed Tigo Guatemala. In 2021,

Millicom Millicom International Cellular SA is a Luxembourgish fixed line and mobile telecommunications services provider operating in Latin America operating under the Tigo brand. Its main shareholder is Xavier Niel, a French billionaire who owns 40% of ...

purchased López Estrada's 45% stake in Tigo for US$2.2 billion. In 2015, he became a

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...

, according to ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

''. López Estrada was also the founder and President of the Board of Directors of Tigo Foundation. According to its website, Tigo Foundation is dedicated to support children in Guatemala with healthcare, education and sports. Their website also cites that from its foundation in 2009 to 2017, 250 schools have been built in the rural areas in Guatemala. López Estrada was also a minority stakeholder in the local newspaper '' Prensa Libre''.

Distinctions

*May 2017: "Excellence in Business Recognition" from ''

'' during the Genius Disruption forum in

Guatemala City Guatemala City (, also known colloquially by the nickname Guate), is the Capital city, national capital and largest city of the Guatemala, Republic of Guatemala. It is also the Municipalities of Guatemala, municipal capital of the Guatemala Depa ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez Estrada, Mario 1938 births 2023 deaths Guatemalan businesspeople Guatemalan billionaires Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala alumni People from Guatemala City

Biography

Distinctions

See also

References