El Corte Inglés dismisses its CEO
Gastón Bottazzini leaves the department store company just over a year after his appointment
BarcelonaThe board of directors of El Corte Inglés has dismissed its CEO, Gastón Bottazzini, and restructured the company's top executive team, according to a statement released by the department store chain on Wednesday. Bottazzini is leaving the Madrid-based company just over a year after his appointment, on the eve of the Christmas season, a crucial period for the retailer. According to the statement, the CEO's departure was "by mutual agreement" between both parties "after a period of reflection." The retailer has appointed Santiago Bau as CEO, with direct responsibility for all of the group's businesses, as well as the corporate and financial areas. Furthermore, Rafael Díaz Yeregui, currently deputy secretary of the board and general secretary of the company, will assume the roles of legal counsel, sustainability, and human resources directors. In both cases, these positions report directly to the board's monitoring committee, chaired by Marta Álvarez, the group's president.
After more than eight years of internal disputesIn 2022, Marta Álvarez, daughter of the company's third president, Isidoro Álvarez Álvarez, became president of El Corte Inglés, which led to the departure of the group's then CEO, Víctor del Pozo. In recent years, the group has improved its results—despite the shock of the pandemic, which affected the entire retail sector—and closed 2024 increasing profits 6.7%, to 512 million euros; and turnover up 2%, to 16,675 million.
Shareholder Struggle
Bottazzini arrived at El Corte Inglés from the Chilean group Falabella in early 2024 as a personal advisor to Marta Álvarez, who entrusted him with implementing the 2025-2030 strategic plan, through which the holding company plans to invest €3 billion in remodeling. The Argentine executive was appointed CEO of the company during the shareholders' meeting in July 2024, becoming the first foreign executive to lead El Corte Inglés, thus reinstating the CEO position after Víctor del Pozo's departure from the company in 2009. After appointing Bottazzini as CEO, at the end of October 2024, El Corte Inglés decided to dismiss the general manager, José María Folache. The ConfidentialBottazzini's departure just before the Christmas season is reportedly due to differences of opinion with the various shareholder families that control the department store group. However, Bottazzini's exit has come as a surprise, especially considering that in the last year Marta Álvarez had granted him full powers, even eliminating the delegated committee that oversaw the work of the executive and management bodies. In 2024, the first full year under Bottazzini's leadership, El Corte Inglés achieved total revenues of €16.675 billion, 2% higher than the previous year. It also achieved a net profit of €512 million, a 6.7% increase compared to 2023, and recurring net profit reached €470 million. New faces
Aside from the departure of the CEO, the retail giant has appointed Santiago Bau as CEO of El Corte Inglés, with direct responsibility for all of the group's businesses, as well as the corporate and financial areas. Rafael Díaz Yeregui, currently Deputy Secretary of the Board, has been appointed as the company's Secretary General, with the rank of CEO, and will assume the roles of Legal Counsel, Sustainability, and Human Resources. After a long career at the investment bank Goldman Sachs, Santiago Bau joined El Corte Inglés in March 2022 as Corporate CEO. Díaz Yeregui, who has held various positions as an investment banking legal advisor at Barclays and later as a partner at Pérez-Llorca, joined El Corte Inglés in 2021 as Corporate Legal Director, and has been Deputy Secretary of the Board since 2022.
In addition, the board has appointed Álvaro Parrón as director of the Real Estate area, replacing Javier Catena.
