Astroc chairman Enrique Banuelos is the richest self-made newcomer on the Forbes billionaire list. Banuelos is one of nine new Spanish real estate and construction billionaires, with a combined fortune of $25 bn, on the list this year. At 41, Banuelos, who Forbes says is worth $7.7 bn (EUR 5.8 bn), is also the youngest of the Spanish real estate billionaires.
Astroc chairman Enrique Banuelos is the richest self-made newcomer on the Forbes billionaire list. Banuelos is one of nine new Spanish real estate and construction billionaires, with a combined fortune of $25 bn, on the list this year. At 41, Banuelos, who Forbes says is worth $7.7 bn (EUR 5.8 bn), is also the youngest of the Spanish real estate billionaires.
The boom in stock market values in the last year, coupled with the demand among northern Europeans for homes in Spain as well as European Union cohesion funds used to improve Spain's infrastructure, have propelled Banuelos and his peers up the billionaire's list. Baneulos wasn't even a billionaire when he floated Astroc, a developer, on the stock exchange in Madrid last May, Forbes noted. As his worth is tied to the performance of his shares, Banuelos saw his fortune drop by 30% in four days during the recent stock market 'correction' that hit real estate shares particularly hard.
Forbes points out that many of the Spanish senores del ladrillo, or brick men, are connected to each other. Spain's richest person, Amancio Ortega, chairman of fashion retailer Inditex, is a shareholder in Astroc. Juan Bautista Soler sided with Joaquin Rivero, the chairman of Metrovacesa, to counter a hostile takeover of Spain's largest real estate company made by the Sanahuja family last year. In recent weeks it was announced the company is being split up with the Sanahujas taking the driving seat at Metrovacesa and Rivero gaining control of its spun-off French unit Gecina.
Luis Manuel Portillo is another Spanish billionaire. He is chairman of Spanish real estate groups Inmocaral and Colonial and French company SFL. He helped Rivero fend off an Italian takeover bid for Metrovacesa in 2003.