José María Álvarez-Pallete López (born 12 December 1963,

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

) is a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of Telefónica S.A. since 8 April 2016.

Professional career

José María Álvarez-Pallete began his professional career at Arthur Young Auditors in 1987, before joining Benito & Monjardín/Kidder, Peabody & Co. in 1988. After this, in 1995, he joined the Compañía Valenciana de Cementos Portland (CEMEX) as head of the Investor Relations and Analysis Department. In 1996, he was promoted to

Chief Financial Officer The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...

in Spain, and in 1998 to Chief Administration and Finance Officer of the CEMEX Group Indonesia and to member of the Board of CEMEX Asia Ltd. In February 1999, he joined the Telefónica Group as de of Telefónica Internacional SA, and on September of that same year he took up the post of Managing Director of the Corporate & Finance in Telefónica S.A. In July 2002, he was appointed Executive Chairman of Telefonica International S.A., in July 2006,

Managing Director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of Latin America Telefonica, and in March 2009,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of Latin America Telefonica. In September 2011, he was promoted to

(CEO) of Telefónica Europe; at that time, he developed

Wayra Wayra is a technological innovation hub, which was started in Latin America and Spain in 2011 as an initiative of Telefónica's chief executive in Europe, José María Álvarez-Pallete. Wayra operates through 11 hubs in 10 countries within Telefón ...

, the accelerator of

Startup Company A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend t ...

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. He is Managing Director of Telefónica S.A. since 17 September 2012, and he became also a member of the Administrative Board of Telefónica S.A. in July 2006. In addition to this, he is a member of the Executive Committee of Telefónica. On 20 March 2016,

César Alierta César Alierta Izuel (born May 5, 1945) is a Spanish businessman, who was the chief executive officer and chairman of Telefónica S.A. from July 26, 2000, until replaced by José María Álvarez-Pallete in 2016. He guided the company through a s ...

left the position of

(CEO) of Telefónica S.A. and named José Maria Álvarez-Pallete as his successor, who took up the CEO position on 8 April 2016, Since March 2019 he is member of the Advisory Council of SEAT, S.A. In January 2022, he was appointed president of the GSM Association (GSMA) succeeding the president of Orange, Stéphane Richard. In February 2022, José María Álvarez-Pallete assumes the presidency of Fundación Telefónica, replacing César Alierta.

Other activities

Corporate boards

* Endeavor, Member of the Board of Directors *

Portugal Telecom Altice Portugal (formerly known as Portugal Telecom or PT) is the largest telecommunications service provider in Portugal. Since June 2, 2015, the company has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Altice Europe, a multinational cable and telecommuni ...

, Member of the Board of Directors (2008–2010)

Non-profit organizations

* Elcano Royal Institute for International and Strategic Studies, Member of the Board of Trustees *

European Round Table of Industrialists The European Round Table of Industrialists, abbreviated ERT, is an advocacy group in the European Union consisting of some 50 European industrial leaders working to strengthen competitiveness in Europe. The group works at both national and European ...

(ERT), Member *

Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía The ''Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía'' ("Queen Sofía National Museum Art Centre"; MNCARS) is Spain's national museum of 20th-century art. The museum was officially inaugurated on September 10, 1992, and is named for Queen Sofía. It ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees

Awards and recognition

* 2001 – Best “CFO Europe Best Practices” award in the Mergers & Acquisitions category for the year 2000 *2003 – Member of Merit at the Ibero-American Forum of the Fundación Carlos III *2007 – Master of Gold of the High Direction Forum * 2011 – Economics Person of the Year, awarded by the journal ''El Economista'' *2013 – Received the Excellence 2013 Award, for his contribution to the development of telecommunications, granted by the Spanish Telecommunication Engineers Association * 2014 – Sorolla Medal, awarded by the

Hispanic Society of America The Hispanic Society of America operates a museum and reference library for the study of the arts and cultures of Spain and Portugal and their former colonies in Latin America, the Spanish East Indies, and Portuguese India. Despite the name, it ...

* 2014 – Innovative Corporate Leader of the Year, awarded by the Latin Trade Magazine * 2014 – Most Creative People, listed by Fast Company Magazine *2016 – The Consejo Superior de Deportes granted him the entry in the Royal Order of Merit Sports in the category of Bronze Medal *2017 –

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

magazine recognized José María Álvarez-Pallete as the best CEO of companies that quoted in Spain in 2016 *2019 – He received the "Manager of the Year" award in the Large Corporations category granted by the Asociación Española de Directivos *2019 – He received the "Executive of the Year" award in the second edition of the awards for economic, social and business excellence by Merca2 *2019 – “Business Leader of the Year” by the Spain-US Chamber of Commerce *2020 – ECOFIN prize for "Financiero del Año" *2020 – "Lider Empresarial Impulsor del Marketing" by the Spanish Marketing Association *2022 – He received the award "Mejor Empresario del Año" from Actualidad Económica, economic supplement of El Mundo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez-Pallete, Jose Maria 1963 births Living people Spanish economists Spanish chief executives Complutense University of Madrid alumni Directors of Telefónica