Ricardo Salinas Pliego

Ricardo Benjamín Francisco Salinas Pliego (Mexico City, October 19, 1955) is a Mexican businessman. A Public Accountant from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, he completed his master's degree in Business from Tulane University and received an Honoris Causa doctorate from the Autonomous University of Guadalajara. He is the founder and president of Grupo Salinas, made up of various companies dedicated to telecommunications, media and entertainment, transportation, financial services, and specialized trade, among other sectors.

Biography

Ricardo Salinas' businesses originate from a furniture factory founded by his great-grandfather, Benjamín Salinas Westrup at the beginning of the last century.

In 1977, he graduated as a public accountant with honors from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education. Later, in 1979, he completed his MBA at Tulane University in New Orleans, United States.

In 1981 he joined Grupo Elektra as import manager and, in 1987, he was appointed CEO of the company, founded in 1950 by his grandfather Hugo Salinas Rocha. Currently, the company, in addition to specialized trade, offers financial services.

Ricardo Salinas assumed the presidency of Grupo Elektra in the midst of a serious economic crisis and, faced with the possibility of company bankruptcy, he thoroughly restructured the company's operations with a new business scheme: low margins, strict management of the cash and basic line of products. These measures radically changed the course of the company, which in a sustained manner returned to viability and offered financing again.

In 1993, a group of investors headed by Ricardo Salinas, acquired the media package that the federal government privatized, with which TV Azteca was born. For seven years, Salinas concentrated on the administration of the company and, thanks to breaking certain paradigms in the industry, in a few years managed to capture 40% of the audience, which consolidated it as the second largest producer of television content. in Spanish all over the world.

In July 2001, TV Azteca launched the Azteca América pilot signal in the city of Los Angeles, to bring the company's content to the Hispanic market in the United States. Later, Azteca América would be sold to the company HC2.

Regarding the financial investments of Grupo Salinas, in October 2002, Grupo Elektra received the first banking license granted in ten years, after which Banco Azteca was founded, an institution that currently has operations in Mexico, Panama, Guatemala and Honduras. Subsequently, Grupo Elektra obtained two more financial licenses from the federal government with which Seguros Azteca and Afore Azteca emerged, respectively.

It also had the initiative to venture into the world of telecommunications and in 1998 acquired, through a public auction, a number of important radio spectrum licenses to offer personal communication services and WLL that served as the basis for the foundation of Unefon and Telecosmo.

In 2003, Ricardo Salinas acquired Iusacell, a cell phone company, which in 2007 merged with Unefon. In 2014, Salinas sold Grupo Iusacell to AT & T and as part of the agreement he remained with Totalplay, a telecommunications company that offers fixed Internet access, pay television and telephony services, through fiber optic direct to the home. Its two main brands are: Totalplay Residential and Totalplay Business.

In 2004, it ventured into the transportation segment with the start of operations of Italika, the motorcycle brand owned by Grupo Salinas. Just a few years after its launch, it became the leading brand in its field in Mexico, with more than 60% of the market. In 2008, it inaugurated its assembly plant, Ensamblika, located in the city of Toluca, State of Mexico.

In November 2007, Ricardo Salinas launched GS Motors in a joint venture with FAW, China's leading manufacturer of motor vehicles. In a first stage, the vehicles would come from China, and within three years they would begin to be produced in Mexico at a plant that would be built in the state of Michoacán. However, as a result of the high net costs and the global economic crisis, said project did not continue its development.

In 2012, Grupo Elektra acquired Advance America, today Purpose Financial, a short-term non-bank loan company in the United States. It also put Punto Casa de Bolsa into operation. The group operates more than six thousand contact points in Mexico, the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru and Panama.

The businessman usually expresses his ideas on different topics in articles and columns in newspapers in Mexico and the United States, as well as having his own blog.

Social and cultural initiatives

In addition to his entrepreneurial vision in business, he has promoted a series of social and cultural initiatives such as Fundación Azteca, an organization aimed at addressing various problems and needs of the population in terms of health, education and environmental protection, among others.

In April 2021, he presented the Ricardo B. Salinas Pliego Center, a space that seeks to promote the development of ideas that contribute to the transformation of the country, based on six lines of work or pillars: Freedom, Rule of Law, Education, Leadership, Art and Culture, and Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The initiative is integrated by the programs: Art & Culture, Paths of Freedom and Kybernus.

Disputes

Salinas Pliego has been involved in various political and financial scandals, including the takeover of the Canal 40 (El Chiquihuitazo) facilities in 2002, and the Unefon case with the Canadian company Nortel, in which the United States stock exchange authorities (Securities and Exchange Commission) filed a civil lawsuit against Ricardo Salinas Pliego. The SEC accused him of failing to properly report a triangulation with a Unefon debt. The businessman denied the accusations, but still agreed to pay a fine of $7.5 million imposed by the same commission. In addition, Salinas Pliego was barred from holding any managerial position in public companies in the United States for five years.

In April 2012, referring to the presidential debate of the 2012 federal elections in Mexico, he stated on his Twitter account:

If you want debate, watch it for Televisa, if not, watch football for Azteca. I'll pass them ratings the next day.

Ricardo Salinas

The phrase caused controversy among the main Mexican television stations and in the Federal Electoral Institute, today the National Electoral Institute. On May 3, the IFE acknowledged that TV Azteca had decided to broadcast the presidential debate through the Proyecto 40 channel (today ADN 40). Salinas argued that the majority of the population was not interested in the presidential debate and that if the interest were different, they would adjust his strategy.

Panama Papers controversy

After the leak of documents from the Mossack Fonseca law firm related to the international movement of money, various personalities were involved, including the Mexican businessman. Later, the businessman stated that his operations adhere to the law.

Position on the COVID-19 pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico, Ricardo Salinas de Pliego has been strongly criticized for disregarding the recommendations made by the Mexican health authorities and entities in that country. He has shown skepticism with the confinement and social distance measures, which is why he did not close his stores during the National Day of Sana Distancia, disregarding the directives to prevent contagion and inciting through his television station, TV Azteca, to disobey any type of health warning. He also tested positive for COVID-19, despite that, he continued to downplay the pandemic.

Tax Evasion

In January 2022, the conglomerate "Grupo Elektra" of Ricardo Salinas, is ordered by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, the payment of a tax debt for 2,626 million pesos.

The businessman has refused to pay what was requested by the Tax Administration Secretariat (SAT) and has started a smear campaign against the SCJN through Grupo Salinas and TVAzteca by calling "Superficial" the decision of the court. Despite the fact that Ricardo Salinas has informed that he would go to international instances, there is no greater jurisdiction for the case in question than the SCJN.

Companies

• Salinas Group.

• Specialized trade and financial services
  • Elektra Group.
    • Purpose Financial.
    • Bag House Point.
  • Aztec Bank.
    • Aztec insurance.
    • Afore Aztec.
  • Neto stores.

• Media
  • Aztec TV.
    • Azteca Guatemala.
    • Azteca Honduras.
  • Promosat Group.

• Telecommunications
  • Total Play.
  • Totalplay Business.

• Transport
  • Italika.

• Other companies
  • Upax.
  • Agency i.
  • Promo Space.
  • Dragon Group.
  • Totalsec.

• Social and Cultural Commitment
  • Azteca Foundation.
  • Centro Ricardo B. Salinas Pliego.
  • Kybernus.
  • Freedom paths.
  • Art and Culture Salinas Group.

• Football equipment
  • Mazatlan Football Club.