María Asunción Aramburuzabala: what is the “beer” origin of the fortune of the richest woman in Mexico

This Friday, August 5, the International Beer Day, a date that many will surely take advantage of celebrating with a good drink to cool off. And the fact is that beer is one of the oldest fermented drinks of mankind and one of the most valued.

Since 2007, the celebration of the International Beer Day every first Friday of August, a tradition that originated in a small bar in Santa Cruz, California, in the United States. The celebration drew so much attention that it is now celebrated all over the world, including 207 cities, 50 countries and 5 continents. And it is increasing.

In Mexico, beer is one of the favorite alcoholic drinks, and therefore, one of the best sellers. That is why, those who are dedicated to the beer business, have managed to accumulate great fortunes. Such is the case of the richest woman in Mexico, María Asunción Aramburuzabala Larregui, who owes the origin of his wealth to the beer business.

And it is that although the businesswoman is not the founder of any brewing company nor did she start a business of this, if she was one of the heiresses of Grupo Modelo, one of the most important beer brands not only in Mexico, but in the world.

And it is that Grupo Modelo was founded in Mexico in the first half of the last century by a group of Spanish immigrants. Among them was Félix Aramburuzabala, grandfather of today’s richest woman in the country.

Felix Aramburuzabala Lazcano-Iturburu he was grandfather of Maria Asuncion Aramburuzabalaand was one of the founders of Model group. He was born in the small town of Escoriatzaon the Basque province of Guipúzcoa, Spain, in 1886. Being young and poor, he emigrated to Mexico where he would spend most of his life and where he would develop his professional career at the head of the Model brewery, brewing company of which he would be one of the pillars.

From 1920 he worked in the company Leviathan Yeasts and in the Model brewery. He was one of the trusted men of Pablo Díez, second president of the Cervecería Modelo company and successor to the founder Braulio Iriarte in 1932. In the 30s of the last century, Félix Aramburuzabala joined the Board of Directors of the company, in which he would remain until his death, holding the position of vice president and being one of the architects of the great expansion of the company.

In 1971, when Pablo Díez died, Aramburuzabala was one of the heirs of the company. The part he had of the company, as well as the management position, he inherited in turn to his son, Pablo Aramburuzabala, who was the father of María Asunción, after his death in 1972. In the 1990s, Pablo died, so Maruasún, as the businesswoman is known by her friends and family, inherited her father’s share of the company.

In 2013, Grupo Modelo closed a purchase-sale transaction with the Belgian company Anheuser-Busch InBevthe world’s largest brewer, in a transaction valued at $20.1 billion. At that moment, Mariasun became part of the Board of Directors of the European company.

Currently, María Asunción Aramburuzabala is in the top 10 of the richest people in Mexicobecause according to the American magazine specializing in financial issues, Forbeshas a fortune of USD 6 thousand 180 millionwhich positions it in 5th place, only behind Carlos Slim Helu; German Larrea; Ricardo Salinas Pliego and the Bailléres family.

KEEP READING: