Julio Mario Santo Domingo Pumarejo (October 16, 1923 – October 7, 2011)[2] was a Colombian-American 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 magazine as one of the wealthiest men in the world, and the second-wealthiest in Colombia, with a fortune of US$8 billion.[3] He was the founder of a philanthropic foundation, named to honor his father, that benefits Colombia's social development.
Julio Mario Santo Domingo Pumarejo | |
|---|---|
| 1st Colombia Ambassador to China | |
| In office February 27, 1981 – March 18, 1983 | |
| President | Julio César Turbay Ayala |
| Preceded by | Office created |
| Succeeded by | Alfonso Gómez Gómez |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 16, 1923 Panama City, Panamá, Panama |
| Died | October 7, 2011 (aged 87) New York City, United States |
| Nationality | Colombian |
| Spouses | Edyala Braga Brandão do Monte
(divorced)Beatrice Dávila Rocha
(m. 1975) |
| Children |
|
| Relatives | Tatiana Santo Domingo Rechulski (granddaughter) |
| Alma mater | University of Virginia Georgetown University (dropped out) |
| Net worth |  US$8.4bn (2011)[1] |
Early life
editJulio Mario Santo Domingo was born on October 16, 1923, in Panama City, Panama, to 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 of Alfonso López Pumarejo who was twice President of Colombia. He grew up in Barranquilla and later attended the exclusive Gimnasio Moderno in Bogotá, D.C., ultimately culminating his secondary studies at the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts; he later attended University of Virginia before transferring to Georgetown University, but did not finish his degree.[4]
Ambassadorship
editOn May 26, 1980, President Julio César Turbay Ayala appointed Santo Domingo to be the first Ambassador of Colombia to China. He presented his Letters of Credence to Ulanhu, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, in Beijing on February 17, 1981.[5]
Santo Domingo Group
editThe 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. 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).[6][7]
Portfolio
edit- Caracol TV (Colombian television channel)
- Caracol TV International
- Caracol Radio (sold to PRISA in 2001)
- Cromos (magazine)
- El Espectador (newspaper)
- SABMiller (14% stake)
- Avianca (sold in 2004 to Germán Efromovich)[4]
- Bluradio (radio station)
Personal life
editHe 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' brother. Together they had one son, Julio Mario Santo Domingo Braga (1958–2009),[8] 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. Together they had two sons, Alejandro Santo Domingo Dávila (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. In 2008, Andrés married socialite Lauren Davis (founder of the online fashion retailer Moda Operandi).
Santo Domingo owned homes in New York City, in Paris, Bogotá, Cartagena and Barú, a Colombian island near Cartagena.
References
edit- ^ "Julio Mario Santo Domingo". Forbes; the World's Billionaires. March 2011. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
- ^ D. A. Crowe (September 4, 2005). "Una jugada de póquer". El País.
- ^ "Billionaires: Julio Mario Santo Domingo". Forbes. March 5, 2008. Archived from the original on January 23, 2013.
- ^ a b "Forbes Billionaires, 2006". Forbes. Archived from the original on January 23, 2013.
- ^ BBC Asian Network (February 27, 1981). "Summary of world broadcasts: Far East, Part 3". Caversham Park: BBC Monitoring. Xinhua News Agency. OCLC 10807079. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
- ^ Timmons, Heather (July 19, 2005). "SABMiller and Bavaria announce a major transaction in Latin America". International Herald Tribune. Archived from the original on March 10, 2008.
- ^ "SABMiller buys brewer to grow in Latin America". SAB Miller. July 19, 2005.[dead link]
- ^ "Colombian Businessman Julio Mario Santo Domingo Braga Dies". Latin American Herald Tribune. March 29, 2009. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013.
Further reading
edit- Reyes, Gerardo (2003). Don Julio Mario: biografía no autorizada del hombre más poderoso de Colombia [Don Julio Mario: non authorized biography of the most powerful man of Colombia] (Biography). Crónica actual (in Spanish). Barcelona: Ediciones B. ISBN 978-958-96022-8-7. OCLC 150360666.
External links
edit- 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) Archived October 11, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- Julio Mario Santo Domingo on images