Julio Mario Santo Domingo Pumarejo (October 16, 1923 – October 7, 2011) was a

Colombian-American Colombian Americans ( es, Colomboestadounidenses), are Americans who trace their ancestry to Colombia. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of full or partial Colombian descent or to someone who has immigrated to the United S ...

billionaire businessman, diplomat and patriarch of the Santo Domingo family who lived in New York City. He controlled more than 100 companies in the diversified portfolio of the "Santo Domingo Group." He was listed by ''

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 ...

'' magazine as one of the wealthiest men in the world, and the second-wealthiest in Colombia, with a fortune of US$8 billion. He was the founder of a philanthropic foundation, named to honor his father, that benefits Colombia's social development.

Early life

Julio Mario Santo Domingo was born on October 16, 1923 in

Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...

, Panama, to Julio Mario Santo Domingo and Beatriz Pumarejo de Vengoechea, the youngest of their four children; his older siblings were Beatriz Alicia, Cecilia, and Luis Felipe. His father was a banker, described as austere and disciplined, who made a fortune buying companies weakened during the Great Depression; his mother, from a rich and influential family, was

first cousin Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, ...

Alfonso López Pumarejo Alfonso López Pumarejo (31 January 1886 – 20 November 1959) was a Colombian political figure, who twice served as President of Colombia, as a member of the Colombian Liberal Party. He served as President of Colombia for the first time between ...

who was twice

President of Colombia The president of Colombia ( es, Presidente de Colombia), officially known as the president of the Republic of Colombia ( es, Presidente de la República de Colombia) or president of the nation ( es, Presidente de la Nacion) is the head of stat ...

. He grew up in

Barranquilla Barranquilla () is the capital district of Atlántico Department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean Coast region; as of 2018 it had a population of 1,206,319, making it Col ...

and later attended the exclusive Gimnasio Moderno in Bogotá, D.C., ultimately culminating his

secondary studies Secondary may refer to: Science and nature * Secondary emission, of particles ** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products * The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...

at the

Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = M ...

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in '' The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. An encyclopedia (American Engli ...

; he later attended

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with College admission ...

before transferring to

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

, but did not finish his degree.

Ambassadorship

On May 26, 1980, President

Julio César Turbay Ayala Julio César Turbay Ayala (18 June 1916 – 13 September 2005) was a Colombian lawyer and politician who served as the 25th President of Colombia from 1978 to 1982. He also held the positions of Foreign Minister and Ambassador to the United St ...

appointed Santo Domingo to be the first Ambassador of Colombia to China. He presented his

Letters of Credence A letter of credence (french: Lettre de créance) is a formal diplomatic letter that designates a diplomat as ambassador to another sovereign state. Commonly known as diplomatic credentials, the letter is addressed from one head of state to anot ...

Ulanhu Ulanhu or Ulanfu ( 23 December 1907 – 8 December 1988), born Yun Ze (), was the founding Chairman of China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, serving from 1947 to 1966. An ethnic Tumed Mongol, he took the nom de guerre Ulanhu () and had n ...

, Vice Chairman of the

Standing Committee of the National People's Congress The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPCSC) is the permanent body of the National People's Congress (NPC) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), which is the highest organ of state po ...

, in Beijing on February 17, 1981.

Santo Domingo Group

The Group has a majority stake in Bavaria Brewery and Valores Bavaria (a holding company for his non-beer interests). In 2005, Bavaria Brewery merged with South African company

SABMiller SABMiller plc was a South African multinational brewing and beverage company headquartered in Woking, England on the outskirts of London until 10 October 2016 when it was acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev. Prior to that date, it was the world ...

. In this merging, the group acquired 15.1% of SAB Miller, becoming the second-largest shareholder of the second-largest beer company in the world (behind

Anheuser-Busch InBev Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, commonly known as AB InBev, is an American-Belgian multinational drink and brewing company based in Leuven, Belgium. AB InBev has a global functional management office in New York City, and regional headquarters i ...

Portfolio

* Caracol TV (Colombian television channel) **

Caracol TV International Caracol Internacional is the international signal of Colombia's Caracol TV. It offers general programming aimed to Colombians abroad, mostly consisting of old Caracol TV telenovelas, series, and entertainment shows. It also simulcasts '' Noticia ...

Caracol Radio Caracol Radio (''Cadena Radial Colombiana'', "Colombian Radio Network") is one of the main radio networks in Colombia. Founded in Medellín in 1948 when ''La Voz de Antioquia'' station acquired the 50% of ''Emisoras Nuevo Mundo'', based in Bogot ...

(sold to PRISA in 2001) * ''

Cromos ''Cromos'' is a Colombian varieties and photojournalism magazine, known for widely covering the Miss Colombia pageant on editions called ''Mini Cromos''. The magazine was founded in 1916 by Miguel Santiago Valencia and Abelardo Arboleda, both f ...

'' (magazine) * ''

El Espectador ''El Espectador'' (meaning "The Spectator") is a newspaper with national circulation within Colombia, founded by Fidel Cano Gutiérrez on 22 March 1887 in Medellín and published since 1915 in Bogotá. It changed from a daily to a weekly editi ...

'' (newspaper) *

(14% stake) *

Avianca Avianca S.A. (acronym in Spanish for ''Aerovias del Continente Americano S.A.'', "Airways of the American Continent") is a Colombian airline. It has been the flag carrier of Colombia since December 5, 1919, when it was initially registered unde ...

(sold in 2004 to Germán Efromovich) * Bluradio (radio station)

Personal life

He first married to Edyala Braga Brandão do Monte, a Brazilian socialite, daughter of Brazilian ambassador in Paris and former wife of Brazilian President

Getúlio Vargas Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (; 19 April 1882 – 24 August 1954) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 14th and 17th president of Brazil, from 1930 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1954. Due to his long and controversial tenure as Braz ...

' brother. Together they had one son,

Julio Mario Santo Domingo Braga Julio Mario Santo Domingo Braga (1958 – March 2009) was a Colombian-American businessman. He was the director of the Santo Domingo Group, his family's conglomerate of more than 100 companies. Biography Santo Domingo was the first-born of the ...

(1958–2009), but the marriage did not last long and they divorced shortly after. Julio Mario Jr. married Vera Rechulski, a Brazilian socialite and they had 2 children – Tatiana Santo Domingo (born November 24, 1983) and Julio Mario Santo Domingo III (born May 2, 1985). He remarried on February 15, 1975 to Colombian socialite Beatrice Dávila Rocha, and together they had two sons,

Alejandro Santo Domingo Dávila Alejandro Santo Domingo (born 13 February 1977) is a Colombian-American billionaire financier and philanthropist. As of March 2022, his estimated net worth was US$2.5 billion. Early life He is the son of Colombian billionaire Julio Mario Santo ...

(b. 1977) who has continued on in the family business and Andrés Santo Domingo Dávila (b. 1978) the co-founder and president of Kemado Records, who in 2008 married socialite

Lauren Davis Lauren Davis (born October 9, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. Known for her aggressive backhand, speed, and clay-court strength, she won her first title on the WTA Tour at the Auckland Open and reached a career-high singles r ...

(then founder of the online fashion retailer Moda Operandi). Santo Domingo owned homes in New York City, in Paris, and Barú, a Colombian island near Cartagena.

References

External links

Forbes.com: Forbes: World's Richest People

Latin Business Chronicle: Latin America's Billionaires

The Death of Julio Mario Santo Domingo

Caracol Televisión special coverage on Julio Mario Santo Domingo

Julio Mario Santo Domingo P. (1923–2011)

Julio Mario Santo Domingo on images
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santo Domingo Pumarejo, Julio Mario 1923 births 2011 deaths People from Panama City Julio Mario Colombian expatriates in Panama Colombian emigrants to the United States University of Virginia alumni Colombian billionaires 20th-century Colombian businesspeople Colombian chief executives Colombian philanthropists Businesspeople in brewing Ambassadors of Colombia to China 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century businesspeople 20th-century philanthropists