Jaume Giró i Ribas (born 1964) is a Catalan journalist, corporate executive and the current Minister of Economy and Finance of Catalonia.

Jaume Giró
Giró in May 2021
Minister of Economy and Finance of Catalonia
Assumed office
26 May 2021
PresidentPere Aragonès
Preceded byPere Aragonès
Personal details
Born
Jaume Giró i Ribas

1964 (age 59–60)
Badalona, Catalonia, Spain
Alma materUniversity of Navarra
OccupationCorporate executive
Websitegiroconsultants.com

Early life edit

Giró was born in 1964 in Badalona, Catalonia, Spain.[1][2] He has a degree in information sciences from the University of Navarra (1982-87) and a diploma in business administration and management from ESADE (1992-93).[3][4] During his time at the universities he worked for the Diario de Navarra and La Vanguardia newspapers.[3][5]

Career edit

Giró joined Europa Press in 1987, initially as an editor and later as head of the economics section in Barcelona.[1][3] He became head of communications at Catalana de Gas in 1990 and in June 1991, following the merger of Catalana de Gas and Gas Madrid, he was appointed director of external relations at Gas Natural.[1][3] He was promoted to corporate director of external relations at Gas Natural Group in 1994.[3][5] In November 2004 he was appointed director-general of communication and the presidency of Repsol.[3][6] He was also president of Petrocat (May 2007 to June 2010) and director of Petronor (April 2007 to April 2009).[3][7]

Between March 2009 and June 2014 he was executive director of communication, brand, sponsorships and institutional relations, and later deputy director-general of communication, at CaixaBank.[3][8] He became director-general of La Caixa Foundation in June 2014 but left in 2019 due to disagreements with its president Isidre Fainé, including moving the bank's headquarters outside of Catalonia, which Giró opposed, following the 2017 Catalan independence referendum (1-O).[2][4][9] He currently runs a consultancy firm providing various services including lobbying.[10][11] On 26 May 2021 he was sworn in as Minister of Economy and Finance in the new government of President Pere Aragonès.[12][13][14]

In addition to his corporate work, Giró has taught business communication at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and ESADE's Madrid campus, and for the joint University of Barcelona-Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism master of journalism BCNY program.[5][15] He was awarded the Premio Catalunya de Comunicación by the Catalan Association for Communication and Public Relations (Asociación Catalana de Comunicación y Relaciones Públicas) in 2005.[5][16] In 2007 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the ESERP Business School for his two decade work in the energy and communication sectors.[5][15]

Giró was president of the Corporate Excellence (Center for Reputation Leadership) think tank, member of the board of directors of the Societat Econòmica Barcelonesa d’Amics del País (SEBAP) and vice-president of the Asociación de Directivos de Comunicación (DIRCOM).[3][10] Between 2004 and 2009 he was a member of the executive committee of the Comité Ejecutivo del Club Español de la Energía (Enerclub).[5][16] Between 2017 and 2019 he was president of the patronage council of the Liceu opera house.[17] He is the editor of The New Barcelona Post and a close associate of FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta.[18][19]

Personal life edit

Giró is married and has three daughters.[5][16]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Manté, Àlex Font (21 May 2021). "Jaume Giró will be the Catalan Government's new Minister of Economy". Ara. Barcelona, Spain. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  2. ^ a b Álvarez, Dolors (12 December 2019). "Jaume Giró deja la dirección de la Fundación Bancaria La Caixa". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Información Corporativa - Gobierno Corporativo: Jaume Giró Ribas" (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain: La Caixa. Archived from the original on 8 September 2016.
  4. ^ a b Magallón, Eduardo (22 May 2021). "Junts propone a Jaume Giró para Economia tras el descarte de Artadi". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "Jaume Giró será el nuevo director de comunicación de La Caixa". El Imparcial (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain. 26 February 2009. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  6. ^ García Villarejo, Ismael (26 June 2014). "Jaume Giró, nuevo director general de la fundación bancaria La Caixa". Economía Digital (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  7. ^ "Jaume Giró deixarà pròximament la direcció de la Fundació la Caixa". VilaWeb (in Catalan). EFE. 12 December 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  8. ^ "Jaume Giró deja Repsol y será director ejecutivo de Comunicación en La Caixa". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. 26 February 2009. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  9. ^ Hernanz, Carlos (15 December 2019). "Jaume Giró e Isidre Fainé: una pareja de poder y un divorcio político". El Confidencial (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  10. ^ a b "Giró arranca una nueva etapa en la consultoría de comunicación". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  11. ^ "Jaume Giró crea una consultora para prestar servicio a empresas y directivos". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  12. ^ "New Catalan ministers take office under the presidency of Pere Aragonès". Catalan News Agency. Barcelona, Spain. 26 May 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  13. ^ Calvet, Josep M. (28 May 2021). "Los consellers de Aragonès toman posesión sin referencias al Estatut ni a la Constitución". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  14. ^ "Càrrecs i Personal: Departament de la Presidència". Diari Oficial de la Generalitat de Catalunya (in Catalan). No. 8418A. Barcelona, Spain: Generalitat de Catalunya. 26 May 2021. p. 1. ISSN 1988-298X. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  15. ^ a b "Jaume Giró se incorpora a "la Caixa" como Director Ejecutivo". Diario Infoperiodistas (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. 27 February 2009. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  16. ^ a b c "Documento de Registro CaixaBank, SA" (PDF) (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain: CaixaBank. 24 May 2012. pp. 102–104. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  17. ^ "Jaume Giró, nou president del Consell de Mecenatge del Liceu". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Catalan). Barcelona, Spain. 27 February 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  18. ^ Marti, Pep (29 September 2020). "Jaume Giró impulsa «The New Barcelona Post» per rellançar la marca de la ciutat". NacióDigital (in Catalan). Barcelona, Spain. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  19. ^ "Laporta elige a Jaume Giró como vicepresidente de su precandidatura a la presidencia del Barça". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. 27 November 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2021.