María Asunción Aramburuzabala Larregui (born 2 May 1963) is a Mexican

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 ...

businesswoman. She is the chairperson of Tresalia Capital, a venture capital firm. As of March 2022, her net worth is estimated at US$6.2 billion.

Early life

María Asunción Aramburuzabala Larregui was born on 2 May 1963 in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, Mexico to Pablo Aramburuzabala Ocaranza, a Spanish

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

brewer in Mexico, and Lucrecia Larregui González, a Mexican painter whose father, José Larregui Iriarte, was a

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

se miller in Mexico. She is the granddaughter of , a Spanish

immigrant who co-founded the Mexican brewery

Grupo Modelo Grupo Modelo is a large brewery in Mexico owned by Anheuser-Busch that exports beer to most countries of the world. Its export brands include '' Corona'', ''Modelo'', and '' Pacífico''. Grupo Modelo also brews brands that are intended solely ...

in 1925 with his friend and partner Pablo Díez Fernández. Her father was the Executive Vice President of the Grupo Modelo brewery. Aramburuzabala graduated from the

Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México The Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (), commonly known as ITAM, is a private university located in Mexico City. It is one of Mexico's most important institutions of higher learning; highly prestigious in the social sciences. It is a ...

where she majored in accounting.

Family business

The Mexican brewery, Cervecería Modelo, was founded in 1925 by a group of businessmen, including don Pablo Díez Fernández — who became the company's President, CEO and major stockholder — and Felix Aramburuzabala. Felix's son, Pablo Aramburuzabala, the executive vice president of the brewery, died unexpectedly in 1995 of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

at the age of 63. After his death, several groups tried to gain control of his family's share in Modelo — his wife and two daughters bonded together against these groups.''Taipei Times'', 2002''Forbes'', 2001. The family created Tresalia Capital ("tres aliadas" or three allies) in order to diversify the family investments. Through Tresalia, they have made investments in large Mexican companies, as well as the management of private equity, real estate, infrastructure, venture capital, technology and the creation of new companies. After Grupo Modelo's sale, she reinvested her proceeds into

Anheuser-Busch InBev Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, known as AB InBev, is an American-Belgian Multinational corporation, multinational Drink industry, drink and brewing company, brewing company based in Leuven, Belgium. It is the largest brewer in the world, and in 20 ...

, continuing the family tradition in the beer business.

Wealth

With a net worth estimated at $6.2 billion, she is the sixth-richest person and second-richest woman in Mexico. In October 2021, she was found to be implicated in the

Pandora Papers The Pandora Papers are 11.9 million leaked documents with 2.9 terabytes of data that the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published beginning on 3 October 2021. The leak exposed the secret offshore accounts of 35 ...

, which uncovered the offshore hidden wealth of many around the world, in a similar manner as the

Panama Papers The Panama Papers () are 11.5 million leaked documents (or 2.6 terabytes of data) published beginning April 3, 2016. The papers detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 offshore entities. These document ...

. According to the Pandora Papers, Aramburuzabala acquired two private jets and transferred at least $40 million through a trust fund located in New Zealand, Sky Chariot Trust.

Personal life

In 1982, she married Paulo Patricio Zapata Navarro. They had two children, and they divorced in 1997. On 26 February 2005, she married Tony Garza, U.S. ambassador to Mexico, in a small religious ceremony in Mexico City. On 23 April, they had the civil ceremony near

Valle de Bravo Valle de Bravo () is one of 125 Municipalities of Mexico, municipalities in the State of Mexico, Mexico. The largest town and municipal seat is the town of Valle de Bravo. It is located on the shore of Lake Avándaro, approximately 156 km ( ...

, west of Mexico City. U.S. First Lady

Laura Bush Laura Lane Welch Bush (née Welch; born November 4, 1946) is an American educator who was the first lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009 as the wife of George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States. Bush was previously the fir ...

attended. An estimated one-third of the guests were from

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. The couple divorced in May 2010.

Awards and honors

*First woman to be inducted into the prestigious IAOP (International Association of Outsourcing Providers) *2004, Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...

, presented by Awards Council member

Carlos Slim Carlos Slim Helú (; born 28 January 1940) is a Mexican business oligarch, investor, and philanthropist. From 2010 to 2013, Slim was ranked as the richest person in the world by ''Forbes'' business magazine. He derived his fortune from his e ...

*2007, Fortune Magazine’s “50 most powerful women in global business” *2009, San Antonio Woman of Achievement *2014, Named One of Mexico’s Most Powerful Women by Forbes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aramburuzabala, Maria Asuncion 1963 births Living people Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México alumni Mexican billionaires Female billionaires 20th-century Mexican businesswomen 20th-century Mexican businesspeople Mexican people of Basque descent Mexican brewers Businesspeople from Mexico City Mexican emigrants to the United States Spouses of Texas politicians People named in the Pandora Papers 21st-century Mexican businesswomen 21st-century Mexican businesspeople