Carlos M. de la Cruz Sr. is a Cuban-born American businessman, the chairman of CC1 Companies, Inc. which include

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...

Puerto Rico Bottlers, CC1 Beer Distributors, Inc., Coca-Cola Bottlers Trinidad & Tobago, and Florida Caribbean Distillers, LLC. The companies together employ 2,500 people and have annual sales of $1 billion.

Early life

Born in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, Cuba, he also lived in New York City and

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

, Spain, and has been a resident of

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

, Florida, since 1975. De la Cruz received his high school diploma from Phillips Academy,

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., 15th ed., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 387. As of th ...

, in 1959; a bachelor's degree in economics, an MBA from the Wharton School,

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, in 1962 and 1963; and a juris doctor from the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

School of Law in 1979.

Career

He is a senior trustee and was the chairman of the board of trustees of the University of Miami from 1999 to 2001. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. From 1993 to 1995 he was chairman of United Way of Dade County, and campaign chairman in 1991. He has been on the boards of Georgetown University, Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, Florida International University, the Dade Foundation, the Business Assistance Center, and Miami Partners for Progress. A supporter of interdisciplinary studies, he endowed the de la Cruz-Mentschikoff Professor of Law and Economics chair at the University of Miami Law School and the de la Cruz Doctoral Candidates Fellows in Behavioral Finance at the Wharton School.

Personal life

He and his wife, Rosa de la Cruz, have been married since 1962. They have five children and live in

Key Biscayne Key Biscayne ( es, Cayo Vizcaíno, link=no) is an island located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, located between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay. It is the southernmost of the barrier islands along the Atlantic coast of Florida, and lies sou ...

, Florida. They are collectors of contemporary art. In 2009 they opened the De la Cruz Collection, a 30,000 square foot private museum which shows their collection in the Design District of Miami. The museum is open to the public free of charge and conducts educational programs. Their daughter, jewelry designer Rosa de la Cruz Bonfiglio, was married to the Italian businessman,

Stefano Bonfiglio Stefano Alberto Bonfiglio (born February 1964) is an Italian businessman, the co-founder and managing partner of Stirling Square Capital Partners, a London-based private equity firm that invests in companies valued between €50 million and €5 ...

, and they had four sons together, but later divorced.

Awards

He has received the Alexis de Tocqueville Award from

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit fundraising affiliates. United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public, prior to 2016. United Way organizations raise funds ...

; the Silver Medallion Brotherhood Award from the

National Conference of Christians and Jews The National Conference for Community and Justice is an American social justice organization focused on fighting biases and promoting understanding between people of different races and cultures. The organization was founded in 1927 as the Natio ...

; the Distinguished Service Award from

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest university in Florid ...

; the Joseph Wharton Award from the

; the Social Responsibility Award from the

Urban League The National Urban League, formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for African Am ...

; the Simon Wiesenthal Foundation Award; the Presidential Medal from

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 ...

; the Lawyers in Leadership Award from the Center for Ethics & Public Service of the

; the New American Award from

Catholic Charities The Catholic Church operates numerous charitable organizations. Catholic spiritual teaching includes spreading the Gospel, while Catholic social teaching emphasises support for the sick, the poor and the afflicted through the corporal and spi ...

Legal Services; and the Humanitarian Award from American Red Cross.

References

External links

de la Cruz Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:De La Cruz, Carlos Living people Cuban emigrants to the United States American food industry businesspeople Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni University of Miami School of Law alumni Year of birth missing (living people)