Gregorio Perez Companc, a pivotal figure in Argentina’s corporate sector who diversified investments across telecommunications, agriculture, and oil, has passed away at the age of 89. Perez Companc, often referred to as Goyo, was a dominant force in Argentina’s business landscape, heading the industrial giant known initially as Compania Naviera Perez Companc and later as Perez Companc SA.
The net worth of Perez Companc and his family—his wife, Maria del Carmen Sundblad Beccar Varela, and their seven children—was estimated at $4.2 billion. He was instrumental during Argentina’s dramatic economic fluctuations in the 1990s. This period, marked by a departure from hyperinflation, a surge in economic prosperity, and subsequent financial collapse, saw the privatization of numerous state enterprises. Perez Companc emerged as one of the most prominent buyers during this time, amassing significant wealth.
Despite becoming one of the nation’s top billionaires, the rapid expansion of his enterprises couldn’t shield them from Argentina’s economic downturns. The overvaluation of the peso and recurring recessions in the late 1990s severely impacted his business empire.
By 2001, with the economy in turmoil, Perez Companc had to offload substantial portions of his holdings, including the Rio de la Plata bank and Pecom, an oil producer. Petrobras, Brazil’s state-controlled oil company, acquired a majority stake in Pecom in 2002 for about $1.1 billion. That same year, he sold the company’s agricultural business to a venture partly financed by billionaire George Soros. Subsequently, the conglomerate established a new energy firm also named Pecom.
A devout Catholic, Perez Companc was known for his aversion to media exposure, with only a few photographs of him ever made public. He was passionate about car collecting and racing, even building a private circuit on his farm near Buenos Aires. The family also owned a team that participated in the World Rally Championship for several years.
During the 1990s, President Carlos Menem’s economic reforms and the pegging of the peso to the US dollar provided a favorable environment for foreign investments. Perez Companc capitalized on this, acquiring interests in various sectors, including gas, electricity, and telecommunications, and expanding internationally. He gained full control of the conglomerate in 1992 after his sister suffered a brain embolism.
Subsequently, the Perez Companc group concentrated its efforts on Molinos Rio de la Plata SA, Argentina’s leading food manufacturer. Gregorio Perez Companc retired from active business in 2009, stepping down from the board of Molinos and bequeathing most of his fortune to his children.
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