César Alierta Izuel: Success In Different Industries

There is something unique about César Alierta Izuel. He has been a very successful executive in not just one but three different industries. While there have been arguments that it’s best to have leader who has gone up the ranks in one company or industry Alierta is one of the rare breeds who simply know how to manage and lead.

Alierta was born on May 5, 1945 in Zaragoza, Spain.  He earned a bachelor’s degree in Law at the Universidad de Zaragoza in 1967. Three years later Alierta obtained an MBA at Columbia University in New York.

He began his career in the finance industry joining Banco Urquijo based in Madrid in 1970. He stayed with the company for 15 years where he was general manager of the Capital Markets Division.  Alierta then ventured on his own establishing Beta Capital; a private banking and stock brokerage firm. The business was a success managing to earn a name for itself in the Spanish financial industry with Alierta as chairman. It was later bought out by other multinational financial firms.

The year 1996 saw a change in control of the Spanish government. Alierta was appointed chairman of tobacco firm Tabacalera which was 52 percent owned by the government. He was given the order of preparing the company for privatization.

Alierta made significant changes in the company. He closed Spanish factories and moved production operations to Central America. Alierta entered the U.S. cigar market.  He also increased the price of the cigarettes. Spanish smokers and labor unions were angered by his moves. Stock prices of the Tabacalera though doubled. The company was successfully privatized in 1998.

After privatization the firm merged with Seita, a French tobacco company a year later. Alierta became the co-chairman of the new company. He stayed on until he bowed out and entered another industry in a big way.

He became the CEO of Telefónica in 2000. He had been a director of the company since 1997. Under Alierta’s leadership the company grew expanding rapidly even in the international market. It increased its market in Latin America, did business in Eastern Europe and China. Telefónica also became part of the NY Dow Jones Global Titan 50 Index comprising the 50 biggest companies in the world; the first Spanish company to do so.

Alierta is truly one of a kind.