Spanish banking magnate Emilio Botin, who built the country’s Banco Santander into a global financial giant and was widely seen as the nation’s most influential business leader, has died of a heart attack aged 79.
The bank quickly appointed Ana Botin as its new head yesterday after her father Emilio’s sudden death, continuing the Botin family’s century-old management of the lender which now ranks as the euro zone’s largest bank.
Ms Botin, 53, who has been groomed for years to take over from her father, has been chief executive of the bank’s UK business.
The move creates a gap at Santander UK just as it prepares for a separate share market listing. Former Royal Bank of Scotland Finance chief Nathan Bostock has been lined up as her replacement, but he only joined the Spanish-owned bank a month ago. The UK arm is also looking for a new chairman.
“The appointments and remuneration committee considered Ana Botin is the most appropriate person, given her personal and professional qualities, experience, track record in the group and her unanimous recognition both in Spain and internationally,” the bank said following a board meeting.
Mr Botin led the bank’s move into the UK with the £9.3bn acquisition of Abbey National in 2004, later swallowing Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley during the banking crisis.
Mr Botin was known for visiting bank branches to meet with employees and had influence in political circles in Spain and abroad, rubbing shoulders frequently with Spain’s royalty and prime ministers and Latin American heads of state. He did not hesitate, however, to criticise government economic policies in the media when he disagreed with them.
Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy said Mr Botin seemed fine and in good health when the two had a meeting last week.
His death is “a surprise and at the same time a big blow. He was a great ambassador for the Spanish brand”, Mr Rajoy told reporters in the halls of parliament.
A bank spokeswoman said he died on Tuesday night after suffering a heart attack at his home.
One of his daughters was married to famed Spanish golfer Severiano Ballesteros, who died in 2011. And through Santander, Mr Botin was a sponsor of Formula 1 racing, in particular Spanish driver Fernando Alonso.
The bank’s 10 main markets are in Spain, Brazil, Britain, Mexico, Portugal, Germany, Chile, Argentina, Poland and the United States. It has 102 million customers and more than 186,000 employees.