The 22 Richest Families in Guatemala
The 22 Richest Families in Guatemala
from Guatemala
These are the families that concentrate the largest amount of wealth and capital in
Guatemala, owners of some of the largest companies, corporations,
banks and factories that dominate the national market. For some, in few
words son the families owners of Guatemala.
This page describes the richest and most powerful families in our country, as well
as the role they have played in the political, social, and economic fields since the century
XIX to the present. Some of these oligarch families began to amass their
fortunes since colonial times, and they knew how to multiply it through strategies
marital matters and a good administration of inheritances. Other families had
more recent and humble beginnings in commerce that achieved great vision
to transform into large corporations in a few years.
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The 6 super wealthy families of Guatemala
The political power of these families and their empires was solidified during the second
mid-20th century and today they own the largest business groups
that serve as a driving force for the national economy and provide employment to thousands of
We start this list with the 6 super wealthy families that own Guatemala: the
Gutiérrez Bosch, Castillo, Herrera, Paiz, Novella and López Estrada.
In 1964, they created the Villalobos Poultry Farm, starting their poultry operation in the
country. Towards the end of the decade, in 1968, the Gutiérrez Bosch family enters the business
banking as one of the main shareholders of Banco Industrial, currently the
larger and more solid from Guatemala.
The 1970s bring new challenges and successes for the Gutiérrez family. Taking advantage of the
poultry business, in 1971, they enter the restaurant business with the inauguration
from the emblematic restaurant Pollo Campero. Meanwhile, in 1972, it begins the
international expansion of the Corporation with its poultry and operations
restaurants. The first country it expands to is El Salvador. The family manages to
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also during that same year enter the meat business with its famous brand
Toledo
During the 1980s, the Gutiérrez family ventured into the business of
construction (1988) with companies dedicated to project development of
urbanization and housing, shopping centers and office complexes. The series of
shopping centers "Pradera", for example, are owned by this family, as well as
the well-known block factory 'Bloteca'.
The 1990s begin with the birth of a new bank in which it participates.
the Gutiérrez family: the Reforming Bank (1990). The foundation of this bank has
to meet the financing needs of companies
Multi Investment Corporation. In 1994, the Pollo franchise program begins.
Campero, which will allow the opening of hundreds of new restaurants during the
next two decades.
The Gutiérrez family owns the largest number of companies in Central America and El
Caribbean, generating investment and development throughout the region and providing employment
currently more than 27,000 people, the vast majority Guatemalans. Chicken
Campero, the main company of the family, generates revenues of over US $400.
millions annually.
However, the family is accused of controlling the sale of chicken meat and eggs.
in Guatemala, obstructing the importation of eggs and other food.
Political Figures: Dionisio Gutiérrez, Juan Luis Bosch, Felipe Bosch, Juan José
Gutiérrez. They are sponsors of several political parties.
Castillo Family
The lineage of the Castillo family in Guatemala can be traced back to the mid
16th century. Bernal Díaz del Castillo, chronicler of the conquest and encomendero, was one
of the first members of this powerful family, who since their arrival at
America and marriage with Teresa Becerra developed a marital strategy.
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intended to create one of the most fruitful, extensive, and powerful family networks
from the history of our country.
According to Marta Elena Casús, this family network functions in two ways: as
way of concentrating and accumulating fortunes in production through the land, the
work and capital; and as a socio-racial differentiation factor, as a way of
preserve "the purity of the race". The three main branches of this family in the
The current ones are the Castillo Monge, the Castillo Love, and the Castillo Sinibaldi.
During the first 3 centuries of this family in Guatemalan lands, the Castillo family...
they dedicate themselves to commerce. In 1881, brothers Mariano and Rafael Castillo Córdova begin
with the production of craft beer and with the increase of the business, they founded in 1886
the Centroamericana Brewery, which consolidated itself as a monopoly in the
national beer production.
In 1968, the family entered the banking business thanks to Ramiro's initiative.
Castillo Love, founding partner of Banco Industrial. In 1990, another member of the
family, Jorge Castillo Love, expands the family reach in Guatemalan banking
with the foundation of Banco Continental, a financial entity that merged with Banco
G&T in the year 2000 to form Banco G&T Continental.
It is estimated that the Castillo family owns more than a hundred companies in the industries.
food and beverages, banking and construction, among others. In addition to Brewery
Central American and the Industrial and G&T Continental Banks, the Castillos are
owners of Mariposa Bottling (Pepsi), River Brewery (Brahva), Products
Marvel (Tampico Citrus Punch), Foods of Guatemala (Boquitas Señorial)
Nectar of the Orchard) and are shareholders of the Pradera shopping centers along with the
Gutiérrez.
They are also important investors in the IRTRA parks, from where Ricardo
Castillo Sinibaldi is the lifetime president of that institution and one of the members.
more politically active of the family.
The Castillo family, through the Castillo Brothers Corporation, was classified as
the fourth most powerful family in Central America in 2014 according to Forbes magazine
Mexico. Its billing exceeds US $1,000,000,000 annually (one billion). The
Various companies of the Castillo provide employment to more than 20,000 people in
Guatemala. Only Cervecería Centroamericana has more than 8,500
collaborators.
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Political figures: Ricardo Castillo Sinibaldi, Jorge Castillo Love, and Juan Monge
Calderón.
Herrera family
The path to the sugar empire of the Herrera family began in 1849, when Mr.
Manuel María Herrera buys the Pantaleón and San Gregorio estate in Escuintla, where
would found 21 years later (1870) the Pantaleón Mill.
Currently, Pantaleon Sugar Holdings owns the Pantaleón Sugar Mill and
Concepción as well as other mills in the region, which produces more than 1.3
millions of tons of sugar and derived products, being one of the main
sugar exporters worldwide. Approximately 70% of the production
sugar is exported while 30% is destined for the domestic market.
The agricultural business of the Herreras is complemented by numerous coffee farms and
African palm. The family has also diversified and is currently involved in
the businesses of energy generation, food, banking, communications and
construction. Some of the companies in the Herrera family are: Agropecuaria Atitlán
(agricultural products such as rubber, coffee, avocado, etc), Spectrum Real Estate
(housing and shopping centers like Oakland Mall), Procalidad (food).
The Herrera family also has stakes in hydropower plants and are shareholders of the
Agro Mercantil, Cuscatlán, Industrial Banks and Mobile Telephones Guatemala S. A.
They are owners of the agricultural companies Atitlán, San Agustín farms, Cantel, factories of
sweets, chocolates, candies and all their derivatives are producers of bio-ethanol.
Paiz Family
The success story of the Paiz family begins in 1928 with Don Carlos Paiz, who opened the
first family store, called "La Bombita", where they sold items from
leather and materials for footwear. The assortment and size of the store expanded.
until it became Almacén Paiz.
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In 1952, Don Carlos established a corporation and proposed to his employees and
clients who will buy shares of Almacén Paíz, allowing the company
will continue to grow steadily without interruption.
In 1959, the first Paiz Super Store opened, which incorporated a new
a concept never seen before in Guatemala: self-service, where customers
they circulate among the aisles with a cart in which they place the items that
they are going to buy them, paying at the register.
As new Super Tienda Paiz stores opened in different locations, the Paiz
they detected the need to open stores with different formats for different types of
client. This is how Despensa Familiar emerged in 1980, Hiper Paiz in 1994 and
ClubCo in 1999.
Like other families, the Paiz have diversified their businesses, having
participation in supermarkets and businesses, Banco Cuscatlán, Siglo 21 newspaper, and
real estate companies, among others. They also have investments in construction companies.
in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.
New Family
In the late 1860s, the Italian engineer Carlos Novella arrived in Guatemala.
Damerio, who married the wealthy María Dolores Klée Ubico the following year.
From the marriage between Carlos Novella Damerio and María Dolores Klée Ubico was born
Carlos Federico Novella Klée.
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introducing weapons from Belize and reselling them to the warring factions during
the civil wars, taking advantage of the confusion and ruin that many fell into
Creoles and Spaniards due to the political and armed confrontations after the
independence.
Carlos Novella Klée was an entrepreneurial man, committed and with a great
fortune. In 1899, he founded in the estate 'La Pedrera' in zone 6 of the capital one of the
first cement factories in Latin America, called Carlos F. Novella and Co.
The enormous fortune of the Novella family can be evidenced by the sad case of the
murder of a woman in the city of Cape Town, South Africa, supposedly
committed by the Guatemalan Diego Dougherty Novella. Drug user,
Diego became a pariah of the family who never worked in his life and does not belong
part of the boards of directors of none of the family businesses. The magistrate to
The case judge denied bail upon learning that since his childhood.
he had a fund of $10,000 per month, so he wasn't worried about losing
the money from his bail and could easily hide in any country. That is,
"little boy" could have received an allowance of US $10,000 for at least 18 years,
equivalent to US $2.16 million… and we are talking about the black sheep of the
family!
The Novella family owns the Cementos Progreso monopoly, the sole manufacturer.
of cement for more than a century, and they control other types of materials from
construction such as iron, sheet metal, and other materials and derivatives. They also have
energy and transportation companies, and businesses related to oil, plants
from Piedrín and mining companies, among others. they are important shareholders in generation
Cements in Honduras and El Salvador, and they have shares in the Industrial and Agro Bank.
Merchant.
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Cementos Progreso is part of the Grupo Progreso Ltd, S.A. Its sales amount to
more than US $400 million annually and provides employment to more than 2,400 people in
Guatemala.
Mario López Estrada began his professional life as a public employee in the
Municipality of Guatemala and in the Central Government. Its entrepreneurial spirit...
he entered the construction business in 1972, founding the company
Maya Construction and achieving its first project thanks to the acquisition of a
long-term loan. It was dedicated to road construction and later
to the development of housing projects.
After the 1985 elections in which Vinicio Cerezo was elected, he returned in 1986 to
public sphere as Minister of Communications, Infrastructure and Housing,
position he held until 1991.
Through the companies of Grupo Onyx, the López Estrada family provides employment.
direct and indirect to more than 6,000 Guatemalans. We do not have information on the
total group sales, but only Tigo exceeds US $1,250 million annually.
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Other rich and powerful families in Guatemala
The previous 6 families are the wealthiest and most powerful in Guatemala, but from
According to a study by Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS), in the country there are
around 260 multi-millionaires. Those 260 people hold a capital of more than
US $30 billion (~Q230 billion), which is equivalent to 30% of GDP
national.
That is, 0.0015% of the population has more wealth than the remaining 99.85%.
of the population. Or in other words: 260 people have more money than the rest
of the 17 million Guatemalans combined, making Guatemala one
of the 10 most unequal countries on the planet. It is a dramatic figure for a country in
approximately 60% of the population lives below the line of
poverty, with 23% living in extreme poverty.
The following are the most prominent families that complete the picture of the 22.
wealthiest families in Guatemala who exert some influence in the
gobiernos. En orden alfabético: los Alejos, Arzú, Aycinena, Botrán, Campollo, Díaz
Durán, Habie, Klée, Köng, Leal, Molina, Sinibaldi, Torrebiarte, Urruela and Zavala.
Despite the fact that through their companies these families provide jobs to thousands of
Guatemalans, and invest millions in different social programs, are pointed out.
by many as the culprits of the poverty situation that prevails in the country.
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These families own the Political Parties or make million-dollar contributions in each
political campaign in Guatemala to later enjoy state privileges.
Once their political operators reach Congress, to the State Ministries, to the
The Presidency and the Judicial Branch are the ones who decide economic policies and
social policies of each government. They promote laws that allow them to exempt taxes,
they also carry out major state works such as roads, bridges, and channel medicines
and supplies to hospitals and other entities with inflated amounts and poor quality.
The remodeling of the Aurora International Airport and the port of Champerico is
it is estimated that they were overvalued by more than Q1,400 million quetzals.
These families are always in favor of privatizing state institutions such as the
Telecommunications, Electric Company, Water, Health, Education, University and others
entities and national assets such as roads and highways, are those that do not
they allow Community Radios to operate as if the air and the sky belong to them and
They take advantage of growing family businesses at the expense of the state.
Tax evasion in the year 2014 amounted to Q13,824 million. With Oscar Berger.
more than 1,500 smuggling trucks passed through customs and among them
surely a lot of drugs.
The fact that 260 people own more than half of the wealth that is possessed
Guatemala shows that the very State is cornered and kneeling by the
oligarchy, a few powerful families that fit in 6 pullman buses and that
they decide the fate of a country of 18 million people.
With the Promotion, Investment, and Employment Law and/or the Law for Promotion and Development of the
Exporting Activity and Maquila and others seek the tax benefits that are
exemption from customs duties applicable to the import of
machinery; exemption from income and property tax, for the sale and
exchange of real estate; regarding the use of stamped paper and fiscal stamps, rights
tariffs for the import of gasoline, bunker, methane gas, and propane. With these
laws evade taxes for the benefit of the same oligarch families.
The sugar oligopoly concentrated in the Herrera, Leal, and Minondo families that
it reaches 50% of the total sugar produced by the country, around 70% is exported
outside of Guatemala and 30% for the national market at a higher price than what
it is sold abroad, despite the fact that most of the farms where sugarcane is planted
sugar was expropriated from the indigenous people during the times of Justo Rufino Barrios and
Cabrera, accumulating his capital through forced labor and workforce
free.
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The same happens with the cultivation of the African Palm. The Maegli and Arriola families -
Torrebiarte and Molina – Botrán, in economic partnership with powerful institutions of
United States, are covered by the Promotion and Development of Activity Law
Exporter and Maquila. This means that they do not pay taxes directly,
although they use state institutions such as the police and army to protect their
corporations, companies, hydroelectric plants, farms, mining operations whose soldier's salary and
The police are paid by the taxes of Guatemalan citizens.
The press, radio, and television are at the service of these corporations, lately they are
those that control the Call Centers to deceive the population through the networks
social.
The television channels 3, 7, 11, and 13, owned by the Mexican Ángel González, have
the monopoly of free television with alienating and violent programming for
childhood and youth. They have a direct influence on the main political parties,
important sponsors that make any stupid candidate popular, whose
propaganda is crucial for a candidate to reach the presidency through gifts
airtime of the advertisements.
Also, other national and local television channels such as Guatevisión are being transitioned to
property of Dionisio Gutiérrez and other broadcasters controlled by the same elites.
These families form alliances with transnational companies that exploit resources
nationals in the construction of hydroelectric plants and make excessive use of water,
they divert and pollute rivers, exploit open-pit mining sites regardless of the
damage to communities and ecology without leaving any benefits for the locals.
These families have been the main financiers of the traditional political parties
in Guatemala and in the governments have exerted influence and direct control over the
presidents like Vinicio Cerezo, Serrano Elías, Alfonso Portillo, Álvaro Colom, Álvaro
Arzú, Óscar Berger, Otto Pérez, Jimmy Morales, and place their operators in the
Congress to facilitate laws in their favor and for their businesses.
These families have been the engine of capitalism and neoliberalism that has left
country with these indicators.
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• 30.5% prevalence of hunger. Second place in Latin America.
• 85,301 violent deaths in 18 years.
• From 1995 to 2014, Guatemala has been ranked 133rd out of 187 countries.
in the Human Development Index.
• More than 60% of the poverty level in the country.
• 1.6 million emigrants. 46 thousand Guatemalans leave the country annually due to
lack of employment.
• Private banks charge an average of 10.6% interest to the State for the
Internal debt, this has represented 451 million dollars in interest payments
what the State has lost in two decades.
• External and internal debt of more than 109 billion quetzals.
• Concentration of land in few families.
• 1% royalties from national and transnational companies for the
mining exploitation. This is the largest legalized robbery in history of
Guatemala that is made through our natural resources.
• Corruption and drug trafficking in the bowels of the State.
Guadalupe Pos
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