Grupo Cisneros

The Cisneros Group is one of the largest privately held broadcast, media, technology and telecommunications organizations in the world. We are committed to delivering the highest quality and most comprehensive communications, entertainment and consumer products to the world's 550 million Spanish and Portuguese speaking consumers. The company engages in a joint venture with DirecTV to serve Latin America. The foundation of Cisneros Group of Companies was laid by Diego Cisneros, a Cuban immigrant to Venezuela who started out as a truck driver and then established a material transport business in Caracas in 1929. It soon became the largest in the city, but it was the 1940 bottling concession Cisneros received from PepsiCo that made the family fortune, out of which a host of other ventures followed. In 1944 he established Liquid Carbonic, a company that produced carbon dioxide and related products; he obtained the right to sell Studebaker cars in Venezuela in 1947; Helados Tio Rico was established in 1952 and became the country's largest ice cream maker. At this point, in 1953, Cisneros integrated his businesses into Cisneros Group of Companies. With Venezuela beginning to enjoy the benefits of an oil bonanza, Cisneros was well positioned to take full advantage of the boom times to come. Venevision began broadcasting in 1961 and teenager Gustavo Cisneros learned the television business working as a gofer. In the early 1960s he and his brother traveled to the United States for their college education, and Gustavo had barely graduated from Babson College in 1968 when he assumed the position of chairman and CEO of Cisneros Group of Companies, due to a debilitating stroke suffered by his father. Brother Ricardo joined the company in 1970 as chief operating officer, and working closely together the brothers continued to grow the business their father had founded. Over the next several years Cisneros became involved in a variety of new ventures. It created Gaveplast, which supplied plastic bags, cases, and other products. It created Pharsana de Venezuela to sell Chicco baby care products, and O'Cana Distributors to sell imported liquors. Cisneros also acquired Yukery Venezolana De Alimentos, maker of popular beverages. In 1975 Cisneros acquired a majority interest in Venezuela's first supermarket chain, Cada Automercado. A year later the company became involved in its first foreign investment, acquiring a 20 percent stake in International Basic Economy Corporation from the Rockefeller Group. Cisneros augmented its television interests by purchasing radio stations and forming Radiovision, Venezuela's first national radio network. Other ventures during the 1970s included obtaining the simultaneous rights to Helene Curtis hair products and the Miss Venezuela beauty pageant. During the 1980s Cisneros continued to add to its media holdings. It formed the Rodven Group of Companies to manufacture records and audiotapes, as well as videocassettes. In 1987 Rodven became involved in the U.S. market, acquiring a 50 percent stake in Top-Hits, producers of Hispanic music. Venevision television programs also began to be broadcast in the United States, distributed by Television Latina. In 1985 Cisneros acquired Cinemakit, a Venezuelan television and film production company, then in 1988 purchased Videomovil Color, C.A., an audiovisual production company. In addition, Cisneros became involved in the fast-food business during the 1980s, gaining exclusive rights to operate the Burger King and Pizza Hut chains in Venezuela. It augmented its supermarkets with department stores, acquiring the Venezuelan outlets of Sears Roebuck and renaming them Maxy's. Overseas, Cisneros also acquired Spain's largest chain of department stores, Galerias Preciados. Moreover, in 1984 it purchased two well-established U.S. companies: Spalding, manufacturer of sporting equipment, and Evenflo, maker of baby products. Cisneros also became involved in London real estate, purc