José Manuel Entrecanales Domecq (born 1 January 1963) is a Spanish businessman and former banker. In 2004, he succeeded his late father as chairman and CEO of

Acciona Acciona, S.A. () is a Spanish multinational conglomerate dedicated to the development and management of infrastructure (construction, water, industrial and services) and renewable energy. The company, via subsidiary Acciona Energía, produces 21 ...

, a global leader company focused on sustainable solutions in infrastructure, renewable energy and water. In 2019, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' ranked him the 85th richest person in Spain, estimating his personal wealth at US$362 million, although his family fortune is estimated at around US$3.6 billion. Entrecanales has been highlighted as a key leader of a new generation of Spanish businessmen "shaped by family roots but identifying fully with modernisation". He is a firm advocate of the fight against

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

at a corporate level, which earned him the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese honors system, Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge feat ...

, as well as being asked to speak frequently at global forums, including the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference.

Biography

José Manuel Entrecanales was born 1 January 1963 in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

to an influential family of businessmen. His father was José María Entrecanales y de Azcárate, Chairman of

(son of José Entrecanales e Ibarra, co-founder of the company) and his mother, Blanca Domecq y Zurita, was the daughter of the 2nd Viscount of Almocadén. Entrecanales read Economics at the

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid (, UCM; ) is a public research university located in Madrid. Founded in Alcalá in 1293 (before relocating to Madrid in 1836), it is one of the oldest operating universities in the world, and one of Spain's ...

Personal life

In 1985, he began his career as an investment banker at

Merrill Lynch Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, doing business as Merrill, and previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investm ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and later,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Between 1995 and 2007, he was chairman of

Vodafone España Vodafone España, S.A.U. is a mobile telecommunications operator in Spain headquartered in Madrid. It was founded in 2001, as a result of the merger of the shares held by Vodafone and British Telecom, and Airtel. The company offers GSM900/1800&n ...

and between 2007 and 2009 he shared the presidencies of

Endesa Endesa, S.A. (, originally an initialism for ''Empresa Nacional de Electricidad, S.A''.) is a Spanish multinational electric utility company, the largest in the country. The firm, a majority-owned subsidiary of the Italian utility company Enel, ...

and Acciona. Entrecanales is married to María Carrión, and has 4 children: José, Gonzalo, Clotilde and Gerardo. His three sons attended

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

Professional career

He began his career in 1985 in

, sharing his time between

and

. He moved to Acciona in 1991. In 1995, the family business bought a majority share package of a mobile company called

Airtel Bharti Airtel Limited is an Indian multinational telecommunications company based in New Delhi. It operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa, as well as the Channel Islands. Currently, Airtel provides 5G, 4G and LTE Advanced ...

and José Manuel Entrecanales was named CEO in 2000, replacing Juan Abelló. In 2003,

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public Limited Company () is a British Multinational company, multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates Service (economic ...

bought Acciona’s shares of Airtel and Entrecanales was the CEO of Vodafone Spain up until October 2007. In 2004, he inherited the presidency of the Acciona Group from his father. As CEO of Acciona, José Manuel Entrecanales has transformed the construction and engineering company into a global infrastructure, energy and water services company with over 50,000 employees and presence in 52 countries. In 2007, Acciona bought 25% of Endesa and Entrecanales was named its CEO until they sold its shares in 2009.

Distinctions

An advocate of sustainable development and the fight against climate change, José Manuel Entrecanales is a member of some of the world's leading organizations promoting sustainable development such as the United Nations Global Compact, the World Bank’s Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition, and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). In addition, José Manuel Entrecanales is a Trustee of the Princess of Asturias Foundation, the Prado Museum, as well as Vice President of the Fundación Pro CNIC and the Instituto de Empresa Familiar. Is Ambassador of the Spain Brand (Marca España). He is Chairman of acciona.org, a foundation dedicated to promoting universal access to water and energy. In 2009, he created the Fundación José Manuel Entrecanales Innovación y Emprendimiento para la innovación en sostenibilidad, which, among other things, acts as a business angel for companies to help them improve the use of resources (energy, water, etc.).

Honours

* Sorolla Medal (2017) from the

Hispanic Society of America The term Hispanic () are people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an ethnic or meta-ethnic term. The term commonly appl ...

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(2018) * Premio Tiepolo (2018) * Honorary Doctorate of Business by

RMIT University The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (abbreviated as RMIT University) is a public research university located in the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia., section 4(b) Established in 1887 by Francis Ormond, it is the seventh-o ...

in Melbourne (Australia) (2024)

References