The story
Founded by Diego Cisneros in 1929.1
D. Cisneros & Cia.: 1929–1953
Grupo Cisneros was founded in 1929 in Venezuela by Diego Cisneros and his elder brother Antonio José Cisneros as a small material transport business called D. Cisneros & Cia. The brothers then obtained a license to operate a bus route and transformed the dump truck business into a bus business. In time, the Cisneros brothers created a bus line made up of 400 buses, which they sold in 1939.
In 1939, D. Cisneros & Cia. became an exclusive franchiser for Norge, Hamilton Watch Company, and REO Truck brands in Venezuela. In 1940, rapid growth led to the acquisition of the exclusive license manufacture and bottling concession of Pepsi-Cola products in Venezuela, which established the company's fortune. In 1944, the company founded Liquid Carbonic, which produced carbon dioxide as well as other beverage products.
In 1947, D. Cisneros & Cia. went on to represent the car maker, Studebaker, in Venezuela, and in 1952 founded Helados Club Ice Cream Company, which was later renamed Helados Tio Rico, S.A., and was known as Tio Rico ice cream, and became the country's largest ice cream maker.
Cisneros Group of Companies: 1953–1970
In 1953, D. Cisneros & Cia. consolidated its commercial and industrial entities under one corporate structure, which was called the Cisneros Group of Companies.
In 1968, the company founded Gaveplast, a company that produced plastic crates and cases for retail businesses for the beer and carbonated soft drink industries in South America.
Venevisión: 1961
The 1958 fall of Venezuelan president Marcos Pérez Jiménez, created many economic setbacks. This included the sale of the then-only privately owned channel in Venezuela, TeleVisa a.k.a. Televisión Venezolana Independiente SA, which went into bankruptcy. In 1960, the President of Venezuela, Rómulo Betancourt, proposed that Cisneros purchase TeleVisa. Cisneros purchased TeleVisa, and began airing channel 27 on February 27, 1961, resuming uninterrupted transmissions on March 1, 1961. Cisneros re-branded TeleVisa as Venevisión on February 27, 1961.
Cisneros Group of Companies: 1970–2013
In 1970, when Diego Cisneros had a stroke, leadership of the company was transferred to two of his sons. In February 1970, Ricardo José Cisneros became Chief Operating Officer of Cisneros, and in March 1970, Gustavo Cisneros, only recently graduating from college, assumed the position of chairman and chief executive officer of Grupo Cisneros.
Univision: 1992–2007
In 1992, as part of a consortium of American businessman Jerry Perenchio, Mexican entrepreneur Emilio Azcárraga Milmo, and Grupo Cisneros bought Univision for $500 million. Grupo Cisneros held a 25% stake in Univision and 12.5% stake in the Univision Communications (now TelevisaUnivision). The Grupo Cisneros' ownership of stake in Univision led to the broadcast of Venevision telenovelas from Venezuela, & eventually, to the co-production partnership of Venevision International and Univision Communications of telenovelas. The consortium ended up selling Univision for $13.7 billion in 2007.
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DirecTV Latin America/Vrio: 1995–present
In 1995, Grupo Cisneros partnered with Hughes Electronics Corporation to provide all-digital direct-to-home satellite television service throughout Latin America.
Grupo Cisneros: 2013–present
In August 2013, Gustavo Cisneros appointed daughter Adriana Cisneros de Griffin as the new chief executive officer of Grupo Cisneros. Adriana had previously spent five years working as Vice President of Strategy.
From Wikipedia’s article on Grupo Cisneros, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4