Florentino Pérez | |
---|---|
Born |
Florentino Eduardo Pérez Rodríguez 8 March 1947 Hortaleza, Madrid, Spain |
Residence | Madrid, Spain |
Nationality | Spanish |
Other names | Papa Perez |
Alma mater | Technical University of Madrid |
Occupation | Civil Engineer |
Known for | President of Real Madrid |
Home town | Madrid |
Net worth | US$1.74 billion (November 2016) |
Board member of | Chairman of Grupo ACS |
Spouse(s) | María Ángeles "Pitina" Sandoval Montero (died 22 May 2012) |
Children | María Ángeles Pérez Sandoval Eduardo Pérez Sandoval Florentino Pérez Sandoval Jose A. Pérez Sandoval |
Relatives | Eduardo Pérez del Barrio (father) Soledad Rodríguez Pérez (mother) |
Florentino Eduardo Pérez Rodríguez (Spanish pronunciation: [floɾenˈtino ˈpeɾeθ roˈðɾiɣeθ]; born 8 March 1947) is a Spanish businessman, civil engineer, former politician, and current president of Real Madrid C.F., as well as Grupo ACS, a civil engineering company. He is most famous for ushering in Real Madrid's period of Los Galácticos, a time when the club paid extremely high transfer fees for elite footballers.
Pérez attended the Polytechnic University of Madrid.
Pérez joined the Union of the Democratic Centre party in 1979, serving among others on the Madrid city council.
In 1986, Pérez ran in the Spanish general elections as candidate for the Partido Reformista Democrático (Democratic Reform Party).
In 1993, he was named vice president of OCP Construcciones. After the fusion of OCP with Gines y Navarro into Actividades de Construcción y Servicios, S.A. (ACS) in 1997, he became president of the new company.
Florentino Pérez first ran for the presidency of Real Madrid in the 19 February 1995 election. He campaigned on the poor financial situation of the club and the alleged extensive mismanagement by the board, but lost to the incumbent Ramón Mendoza by 699 votes.
His second attempt was more successful; he took over as president in 2000, beating the current chairman at that time, Lorenzo Sanz. Sanz assumed that the recently won European Cups in 1998 and 2000 would give him enough credit to win the elections, but Pérez's campaign, once again highlighting the financial problems of the club and claims of mismanagement by the previous boards, proved otherwise. Pérez's promise to bring in Luís Figo from arch-rivals Barcelona also played a decisive role in the elections. Pérez was reelected in 2004 with 94.2% of the total votes.