Corona heiress is on edge about her $12.5 billion beer fortune

Lea en espanol.

Maria Asuncion Aramburuzabala was thrown into crisis three decades ago when her father died before finalising plans to pass on one of Latin America’s biggest fortunes.

Maria Asuncion Aramburuzabala is trying to smooth the way to transfer her wealth to the next generationCredit: AP

She had to juggle raising two young sons with boardroom battles as opportunists sought a slice of her inheritance through Grupo Modelo, the Corona brewer founded a century ago. Now, as she approaches the age her father was when he died, the 62-year-old Mexican billionaire is making sure history doesn’t repeat itself.

Aramburuzabala has hired executives with decades of finance experience between them to help lead her family office, Tresalia Capital, as she increasingly steps back from day-to-day duties. Her fortune has boomed under her stewardship to $US8.2 billion ($12.5 billion), making her the second-richest woman in Latin America, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which is valuing her net worth for the first time.

She plucked Rodolfo Perez from Goldman Sachs three years ago to succeed her as chief executive officer of Tresalia, while she held onto the chair role. She recruited Credit Suisse veteran Antonio Gonzalez Anaya as head of research during the pandemic, while Bruce Zimmerman, former chief investment officer for Ray Dalio’s family office, was brought on as an investment director last year.

Loading

The high-profile hires smooth the way for Aramburuzabala to transfer her wealth to the next generation, while helping them avoid the pressures she faced after her father’s death. A recent survey of 317 family office clients at UBS found almost half of them still don’t have a succession plan in place, often as the firms’ beneficial owners don’t regard it as a priority. But that’s not the case for the billionaire commonly known as “Mariasun.”

“I don’t want to be that typical leader that did everything and then at some point there’s a hole and it goes sideways,” Aramburuzabala said in a 2021 podcast interview. “I need to ensure that the transition is successful.”

Her sons, Pablo and Santiago Zapata Aramburuzabala, are now in their 30s, a similar age as their mother was when she took the reins of her family’s empire. But unlike her, they have time to earn their stripes in the business world before one day potentially leading Tresalia.

In February, Pablo and Tresalia CEO Perez joined Santiago on the board of the Spanish branch of fitness company Barry’s Bootcamp, as it raised extra capital without disclosing the financing source. Pablo, the elder of the two, is also a managing director at Tresalia and helps to oversee its private equity division, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Corona is one of the most popular beers in the world. Credit: Bloomberg

“This is not a small family office – it’s a small investment management firm,” said Christina Wing, co-founder of Wingspan Legacy Partners, which advises ultra-wealthy families. “If the people she hired match her strategy, it’s a perfect set-up.”

Aramburuzabala declined to comment for this story, as did her son Pablo. Santiago didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Aramburuzabala was thrust into the spotlight when her father, Pablo, died of cancer in 1995 at age 63. With no son as his heir-apparent, his death left a leadership vacuum in a business culture traditionally dominated by men.

Loading

“The world caved in on us,” she told The New York Times in a 2002 interview. “Friends, enemies, boyfriends – everyone wanted control. Less than a month after my father died, we had people coming to tell us that he had left them in charge, and that they were going to manage things for us.”

At issue was the family’s stake in Grupo Modelo, the Mexico City-based brewer that Aramburuzabala’s grandfather co-founded in 1925. It grew quickly, acquiring Mexican competitors while rolling out new brands. In 1979, it introduced Corona to the US market for the first time, where it eventually became the top-selling imported beer.

Budweiser maker Anheuser-Busch began to buy shares of Grupo Modelo in the early 1990s, eventually acquiring about half of the Mexican brewer. Quickly proving herself an adept negotiator, Aramburuzabala helped lead talks to sell the noncontrolling stake. She became vice chair of Grupo Modelo in 1996, the same year she founded Tresalia.

After Belgian brewing giant InBev acquired Anheuser-Busch, the combined behemoth bought the remaining 50 per cent of Grupo Modelo in 2013, paying some $US20 billion. Aramburuzabala helped convince other shareholders to approve the deal after Anheuser-Busch InBev upped its offer price.

While the exact stake the Aramburuzabala family held at the time isn’t clear, it was among three major groups of shareholders to profit from the windfall. Maria Asuncion Aramburuzabala used part of the proceeds to buy AB InBev shares and joined the company’s board along with Valentin Diez Morodo, another descendant of a Grupo Modelo co-founder.

‘I don’t want to be that typical leader that did everything and then at some point there’s a hole and it goes sideways.’

Overall, the Aramburuzabala family pocketed at least $US3 billion through Grupo Modelo stake sales, according to Bloomberg’s wealth index.

Three allies

Aramburuzabala, who has an accounting degree from the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico, is among a growing population of ultra-wealthy women who’ve established their own family offices, though few set them up as long ago as the beer heiress.

Tresalia – a portmanteau of Tres Aliadas, or Three Allies, for Aramburuzabala’s sister, mother and herself – has over the years invested in and exited businesses like Mexican media company Grupo Televisa, fashion brand Tory Burch and data centre operator Kio Networks.

Loading

It has also stayed close to the fortune’s origins in the consumer space, allocating to consumer-goods giant Kraft Heinz and riding the multibillion-dollar coffee bet of JAB Holding alongside other billionaire shareholders of AB InBev such as Alejandro Santo Domingo, the head of Colombia’s richest family.

Aramburuzabala stepped down as a director of AB InBev in 2023 after serving a decade on the company’s board. She also resigned as a director of beauty company Coty earlier this year, leaving her without any board roles at listed companies.

She’s now spending more time on her hobbies such as travel and animal photography. Her passions also include deep-sea diving, an interest she has passed on to her sons, who both describe themselves as ocean explorers.

“I’m not sure if it’s because my father died young or the women in our family don’t last long either,” she said in the podcast, “but things you want to do, you have to do them as soon as possible.”

Bloomberg

The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning.

Most Viewed in Business

Loading