Carlos Pellas Chamorro is a

Nicaraguan Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

businessman. The controlling shareholder of Grupo Pellas, Pellas is Nicaragua's first billionaire.

Early life and education

Carlos Francisco Pellas Chamorro was born in

Granada, Nicaragua Granada () is a city in western Nicaragua and the capital of the Granada Department. With an estimated population of 104,980 (2021), it is Nicaragua's ninth most populous city. Granada is historically one of Nicaragua's most important cities, eco ...

, on January 10, 1953. He is the son of Alfredo Pellas Chamorro and Carmen Chamorro Benard. Pellas studied at

Colegio Centro América The Colegio Centro América is a private Catholic school located in Managua, Nicaragua. Founded by the Jesuits in the city of Granada in 1916, the school serves as an elementary, middle, and high school. The school quickly became the preferred ...

. He is married to Vivian Fernández, with whom he has three children. He obtained his BA in economics and later an MBA from Stanford University.

Plane crash

On October 21, 1989, Pellas and his wife were on a

plane crash An aviation accident is defined by the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft, which takes place from the time any person boards the aircraft with the ''intention of fl ...

in a Boeing 727 of the Honduran airline

SAHSA ''Servicio Aéreo de Honduras S.A.'' otherwise known as SAHSA Airlines was the national flag carrier airline of Honduras from October 22, 1945, to January 14, 1994. The airline was a subsidiary of Pan American Airways and merged with ''Transpor ...

. The plane traveling from Managua to Miami was scheduled to stop in Tegucigalpa, but shortly before landing it crashed into Cerro de Hule. Vivian Pellas suffered serious burns on much of her body, suffered 62 fractures, and underwent more than 20 surgeries. Carlos Pellas lost the phalanges of four fingers from his left hand – he uses prosthesis - and he suffered several burns on his right hand and arm.

Civic involvement

Pellas is a board member and vice-president of the INCAE Business School, a graduate business school in Central America., chaired by his, distributes approximately 120 million dollars a year in donations in favor of the most vulnerable population in Nicaragua
Asociación Pro-Niños Quemados de Nicaragua (APROQUEN)
headed by his wife Vivian. In its 25 years of existence, APROQUEN has provided more than 500,000 health services, free of charges, including 34,000 surgeries, to improve the lives of burned children in Nicaragua. He is the President o
Centro Empresarial Pellas (CEP)
which promotes entrepreneurship through the strengthening of small and medium-sized enterprises. CEP has supported over 1000 SMEs, helping them increase sales by 37% and generate over two thousand new jobs, and of International Game Fish Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of game fish throughout the world. He is also a member of the President's Leadership Council of the Inter-American Dialogue.

Personal life

His brother Alfredo Pellas is the president and co-founder of the American Nicaraguan Foundation (ANF). He is a distant relative of the

Chamorro family Chamorro may refer to: * Chamorro people, the indigenous people of the Mariana Islands in the Western Pacific * Chamorro language, an Austronesian language indigenous to The Marianas * Chamorro Time Zone, the time zone of Guam and the Northern Mar ...

Awards

The Chambers of Commerce of Latin America in USA named Pellas Businessman of the Year in 2005. Top executives and entrepreneurs from Central America have chosen him in the last five years as one of the most admired businessmen in the region. He was distinguished in April 2008 by the President of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

with the Order of the Stella Della Solidarietá Italiana in Grande Ufficiale. In October 2008 he was named Honorary Consul of Italy in Granada,

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

.CARLOS PELLAS CONSUL HONORARIO EN GRANADA
The American Nicaraguan Chamber of Commerce – AMCHAM - awarded him the Business Excellence Award in 2012. The American Nicaraguan Chamber of Commerce – AMCHAM - awarded him the Business Excellence Award in 2012. In September 2013, the National Chamber of Tourism of Nicaragua (CANATUR) elected him "Entrepreneur of the year 2013", for his decision to create a world-class resort that would serve as the spark to turn Nicaragua into a Tourist Destination. In October 2013 he and his wife received the “Integral Entrepreneurs” award by the Business Council of Latin America (CEAL). In May 2014, the InterAmerican Institute for Democracy conferred him and his wife the award "Henri Dunant for Social Corporate Responsibility".

References

External links

Grupo Pellas's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pellas, Carlos 1953 births Living people Chamorro family Nicaraguan billionaires Nicaraguan businesspeople Nicaraguan people of Italian descent People educated at Colegio Centro América Stanford University alumni Members of the Inter-American Dialogue