Lorenzo Zambrano death leaving a power vacuum at Mexicos Cemex
The sudden death of the Mexican cement Tycoon Lorenzo Zambrano, who was 70-years-old, has left the company Cemex in a controversial power vacuum. Zambrano died…
Cemex Chairman and CEO Lorenzo Zambrano, center, is applauded by NYSE CEO John Thain, left, as he rings the New York Stock Exchange opening bell, Monday Oct. 30, 2006. Zambrano died at age 70, after an apparent heart attack. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
The sudden death of the Mexican cement Tycoon Lorenzo Zambrano, who was 70-years-old, has left the company Cemex in a controversial power vacuum.
Zambrano died Monday in Madrid, after apparently suffering a heart attack that followed a routine company business meeting.
Lorenzo Zambrano was considered one of the most prominent Mexico businessman after heading Cemex during 34 years, turning it into a multinational company.
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Cemex announced that the companys board would meet in the coming days to appoint the new CEO.
The new CEO will have the difficult task to maintain Cemex as a multinational corporation after Zambrano transformed the Monterrey-based company into a worldwide name in cement products.
One of the most difficult decisions of Zambrano was buying Rinker Group in 2007 for $14.2 billion, just before the U.S. housing market was collapsing. During the following years, Cemex was close to declaring default.
Following Zambrano’s death, the company said in a statement “the operation and administration of the group will continue to develop normally” and that in the coming days the board of directors would meet to decide how to proceed.”
“My condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Lorenzo Zambrano, a man of great commitment and love for Mexico,” said President Enrique Pena Nieto in a message on his Twitter account.
Mexico has lost an extraordinary businessman and a great Mexican, said Mexican Finance Minister Luis Videgaray.
A cement truck leaves the Cemex SA cement distribution center in Monterrey, Mexico, June 7, 2007. Cemex SA of Mexico became the world’s largest supplier of cement and possibly the biggest building materials supplier in the world. (AP Photo/Monica Rueda)
Zambrano was born in Monterrey on March 27, 1944. In 1968 he earned a master of business administration degree from Stanford University in California, and joined Cemex that year. His experience covered all aspects of the business, and he became director of operations in 1981.
Known as a technology enthusiast, he had long been able to monitor production details on dozens of Cemex plants around the world — down to the temperature of a cement kiln — via laptop, according to Bloomberg. He studied pizza chains and emergency call centers to learn how to make delivery times for ready-mix concrete more reliable.
Zambrano was also a top collector of Ferrari cars, with antiques from the 1950s and 1960s, and would race them at Pebble Beach, California.
Mr. Zambrano studied mechanical engineering at ITESM, a private university in Monterrey, his hometown, and he earned an MBA at Stanford.
Cemex produces and sells cement, concrete and other construction materials, with about 43,000 employees worldwide.
It reported annual revenue of more than 15 billion US dollars (£8.9 billion) in 2013.
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