The richest and most invisible man in Spain

In early 1993, Pedro Masaveu Peterson died. He was the man who had amassed the largest fortune in the history of Spain: some 350 billion pesetas, which, converted to euros and without adjusting for inflation, would have been more than 2.1 billion. His name was (and still is) unknown to most people, and his image is even more so, as no one would have recognized him on the street (he was known to be a heavily built man with a 19th-century beard). To get an idea of the size of his estate, it's worth knowing that a few months after his death, another major financier of the time, Emilio Botín-Sanz de Sautuola y López, president of Banco Santander between 1950 and 1986, died. His heirs had to pay half of what they had earned in inheritance tax. A tax bill of that amount could not go unnoticed by the public administrations, so the autonomous communities of Madrid and Asturias spent more than a decade litigating to keep the loot, in a fight that the Asturians ultimately won.

When Pedro Masaveu was born in Asturias, his family had already been involved in business for many years. It all began when Pedro Masaveu Rovira, born in Castellar del Vallès in 1828, moved to Oviedo with the intention of traveling to Cuba, a destination for many Catalans. But once in the Asturian capital, he found work in a small textile business and ended up marrying the widowed owner. The business grew so much that Masaveu called on friends and family from Valles to join him. A success story that continues to this day had just begun.

Today's protagonist, a member of the fourth generation of the family, knew how to maintain and grow the family empire and also continued his father's passion for the arts and music, a patron of the Catalan composer Frederic Mompou Dencausse (1893-1987). His second surname, of Swedish origin, was given to him because his father, Pedro Masaveu Masaveu (1886-1968), married the daughter of the diplomat Juj Peterson Sjonell. As we have said from the beginning, many details of Pedro Masaveu's life were never known, but it is known that he graduated in law from the University of Oviedo, that he worked all his life in the family holding company and that when he died he left behind a collection of paintings of more than six hundred works; In fact, of the 11 billion pesetas that his heirs had to pay in inheritance tax, around 8 billion were paid with works of art, including works by artists such as Goya, Dalí, and Sorolla. Despite his proverbial austerity, it was known that he had a certain fondness for collecting Maseratis and Mercedes. He never gave interviews or made the news in the media; he was Catholic and traditionalist, and never set foot in a party. Masaveu's main residence was the Palacio de Hevia, in Siero, a town very close to Oviedo.

The investment portfolio he managed was almost infinite; notable among them were banks (he owned 1% of the capital of Banesto and a significant stake in Banco Herrero), cement companies (one of the family's original businesses), shipping companies (since the beginning of the family), and wineries. He was also president of the Masaveu Foundation, member of the executive committee of Hidroeléctrica del Cantábrico and member of the board of directors of Banesto. He left this latter position—which he held since 1968—months before his death, when the degenerative disease from which he suffered forced him to retire from business. When the Princess of Asturias Foundation was created in 1980, he was appointed president and was one of its main funders.

Death without offspring

After his premature death, single and childless, the business leadership was inherited by his sister, Cristina Masaveu Peterson (1937-2006), who was also single and also died childless.

Today, the Masaveu empire continues to thrive. The holding company's portfolio, called Masaveu Corporation, includes cement plants, wineries, parking lots (including the one at their Vall d'Hebronès Hospital), real estate businesses, medical and research centers, and investments worldwide in various companies. They are the second-largest shareholders of EDP (Electricidad de Portugal). The conglomerate is valued at around €4.3 billion.