Kirsty Mckenzie
WITH her Harvard Business School diploma and CEO status, she is treated as Spanish royalty. And Ana Botín beats both Her Royal Majesty and Queen Bey in Forbes magazine’s list of the world’s most powerful women.
The executive chairman of Banco Santander ranks 8th in the annual list, and is currently the only Spanish woman to feature in the Forbes 100 – not even Letizia Ortiz, Queen of Spain makes the cut.
Thanks to her ability to speak a whopping five languages, her connections across the business word and her role as the most influential woman in Spain, we thought it was worth paying our respects to Mrs. Botin this International Women’s Day.
Forbes said Botin has ‘championed fintech and focused on entrepreneurs in the face of political unrest, backing small enterprise and women-owned businesses’.
The Cantabrian-born heir to a banking family that has led Santander for four generations
Alongside 99 women from across the world, Botin came in eighth place on the list, while German chancellor Angela Merkel came in at number one.
The Queen of England, 94, meanwhile, was ranked 46th while Beyonce was named the 72nd most powerful woman in the world.
Forbes editors measure power according to money, media presence, impact and influence.
Botin has been especially influential in 2020 due to her efforts to accelerate digital banking. Aided in this regard by the outbreak of COVID-19, Santander now has a whopping 41.1 million digital clients.
The 60-year-old became chair of Banco Santander in 2014, after the sudden death of her father, Emilio and three years later her pulled off a coup the company was acquired failing Banco Popular (BP) for 1 euro to become Spain’s largest bank.
The mum-of-three was born into the banking family that has led Santander for four generations.
