César Alierta, lawyer, businessman and former president of Telefónica between 2000 and 2016, died this Wednesday at the age of 78. The manager was hospitalized in serious condition in a center in his native Zaragoza after complicating an ailment he suffered from. He had had a couple of cardiac arrests in 2019 and 2020, according to the Efe agency.
Alierta was already retired from business activity, in his case marked by his time at the telephone company. The director passed the baton to the current president, José María Álvarez-Pallete, in 2016 and remained at the head of his foundation until 2022, when Álvarez-Pallete also took over. “It is a bitter day for the Telefónica family. By force of heartbeat and love, César leaves us with a heart wide open. Thank you very much, dear friend,” the head of the company has said goodbye to him on his networks.
Alierta came to Telefónica appointed by the then President of the Government, José María Aznar, replacing Juan Villalonga. With him it went from being a prominent player in the Spanish and Latin American market to having an important weight among the main global operators, with an expansion that took it to key points such as Brazil or Germany and around twenty countries. He also acquired assets in the United Kingdom, China and the Czech Republic. As a result, if in 2000 half of the income depended on the local market, today Spain contributes only 27%, based on the results until September.
“With a heart full of sadness, we express our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the beloved former president of Telefónica. We will always remember with enormous gratitude and affection his immense work at Telefónica,” the company itself has published on its networks.
Born in Zaragoza, he graduated in Law there. After studying a master’s degree in Business Administration at Columbia University (New York), in 1970 he began his professional career at Banco Urquijo in Madrid, where he remained until 1985. He then founded and presided over the securities company Beta Capital, a position that he combined with the presidency of the Spanish Institute of Financial Analysts. He was also a member of the board of directors of the Madrid Stock Exchange.
Apart from Telefónica in his extensive business career, there is also the presidency of the public company Tabacalera between 1996 and 2000. Appointed by Aznar, he was in charge of privatizing it and merging it with the French firm Seita to form Altadis. His mandate was accompanied by controversy due to an alleged case of use of privileged information to obtain a profit of 1.86 million, and he was acquitted in 2009 as the crime had expired.
He was “an exceptional and affable man,” recalled the Foment del Treball employer’s association. “An architect of Spanish business internationalization.” Alierta highlighted his involvement in the day-to-day life of the companies, with a strong and strong financial profile, but closeness over short distances. He had no offspring.
Alierta always remained linked to his land. He was “one of the most outstanding Aragonese of the last century,” said Jorge Azcón, president of Aragón. “A man of enormous capacity, a born leader who made history in the world of business and who loved Aragon with an overflowing passion,” he added.
The businessman expanded his footprint by heading the think tank Business Council for Competitiveness, a now defunct entity, or with positions on the board of the IAG airline group.
Football was another chapter of his life. After leaving the presidency of Telefónica, he was the main shareholder of his hometown soccer club, Real Zaragoza, until 2022. It ran through his veins: his father had been president of the club between 1952 and 1958. .
