Mario López Estrada

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is López and the second or maternal family name is Estrada.

Mario López Estrada (21 March 1938 – 20 March 2023)^[1] was a Guatemalan telecommunications businessman and billionaire. He was the president and main shareholder of Tigo Guatemala.

Mario López Estrada
Born	(1938-03-21)21 March 1938 Guatemala City, Guatemala
Died	20 March 2023(2023-03-20) (aged 84) Guatemala City, Guatemala
Education	Universidad de San Carlos
Occupation	Businessman
Title	President of Tigo Guatemala

Biography

López Estrada studied Civil Engineering at Guatemala's San Carlos University. He started his professional career working as a public employee in Municipalidad de Guatemala (Guatemala City Hall) and Central Government. He then became an entrepreneur in the construction of roads across Guatemala and later housing projects. In 1972, he founded Constructora Maya, an independent construction company.^{[citation needed]}

From 1986 to 1991, he worked as Minister for Communications, Infrastructure and Housing during the government of President Vinicio Cerezo.^[2] In 1993, he acquired a share of Comunicaciones Celulares, the state-owned, monopolistic telecommunications company that was about to be privatized. His participation in Comcel grew to 45% through successive share purchases.^[3] Comcel became the country's largest mobile phone service provider and was renamed Tigo Guatemala. In 2021, Millicom purchased López Estrada's 45% stake in Tigo for US$2.2 billion.^[4]

In 2015, he became a billionaire, according to Forbes.^[5] López Estrada was also the founder and President of the Board of Directors of Tigo Foundation. According to its website, Tigo Foundation is dedicated to support children in Guatemala with healthcare, education and sports. Their website also cites that from its foundation in 2009 to 2017, 250 schools have been built in the rural areas in Guatemala.

López Estrada was also a minority stakeholder in the local newspaper Prensa Libre.^[3]

Distinctions

• May 2017: "Excellence in Business Recognition" from Forbes during the Genius Disruption forum in Guatemala City^[6]

See also

• Carlos Slim

References

1. Barrientos Castañeda, Miguel (20 March 2023). "Fallece el empresario Mario López Estrada" (in Spanish). Prensa Libre (Guatemala). Retrieved 20 March 2023.
2. Blake Schmidt, Carlos Slim Bested by Mobile Billionaire in Guatemala, Bloomberg Business, 4 August 2014
3. Times, The Tico (2014-08-04). "López, Guatemala's 1st billionaire, beating Slim with Tigo Mobile". The Tico Times | Costa Rica News | Travel | Real Estate. Retrieved 2022-12-24.
4. "Millicom makes big bet on Guatemala in $2.2bn telecoms deal". Financial Times. 2021-11-12. Retrieved 2022-12-24.
5. "Mario Lopez Estrada". Forbes: The World's Billionaires. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
6. "La prestigiosa revista Forbes reconoce la labor de Mario López". Retrieved 18 September 2017.