Almost a month after the death of Andrónico Luksic Abaroa (1926-2005), creator of the largest economic empire in Chile, the political world paid tribute in his name in the National Congress. After a series of laudatory speeches offered by the parliamentarians, Andrónico Luksic Craig took the floor. The eldest son and then vice president of the Bank of Chile had not managed to arrive at his father's funeral, since his death caught him in Indonesia, from where he flew 39 hours to Santiago, the Chilean capital. In her first public farewell to the patriarch of the business clan he stated: “Without a doubt, from now on my mother takes the reins of her a little and around her this group of her children will support her. I am sure that the Virgin will give us a mother for many more years.” Luksic Craig was referring to Iris Fontbona, the richest woman in Latin America, with family assets quantified at $28.8 billion, after a growth of 18% in 2023, according to the ranking recently published by the Bloomberg agency..
Most of the fortune comes from the control of almost 70% of Antofagasta PLC, one of the largest copper producers in the world, and 83% of Quiñenco, the conglomerate that brings together the Luksic Group companies, except for mining. . They also own more than 84% of the Plava Laguna hotel group listed in Zagreb, Croatia. According to Bloomberg, the family controls Antofagasta PLC and Quiñenco through several investment vehicles based in the principality of Liechtenstein, a small tax haven located between Austria and Switzerland.
Iris Balbina Fontbona González, 81 years old, was born in Antofagasta (1,300 kilometers north of Santiago), a city marked by mining production. The nitrate industry, in particular, had its peak between the second half of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century, which attracted both Chileans and foreigners to the area. Iris is the only daughter of the marriage between Luis Fontbona Buxallen, of Catalan descent, and Emma González Morales, both from Valparaíso. After studying Commerce, Luis moved with his wife to Antofagasta, which at that time had about 50,000 inhabitants, in the middle of the driest desert in the world. Iris grew up there as a northern girl, who studied at the Colegio Instituto Santa María de Antofagasta, a Christian-Catholic establishment.
In the early sixties, young Iris met Andrónico Luksic Abaroa, a businessman of Croatian descent 16 years older than her. The man, who studied in France and was dedicated to the mining industry, had recently been widowed and was responsible for two small sons: Andronico and Guillermo. They married and had three children: Paola (1962), Jean Paul (1964) and María Gabriela (1965). In the middle of that decade, the entire family moved to Santiago, although in the summers it was common to see them all at the house in the Hornitos spa, an hour from Antofagasta. Then, in the southern Chan-Chan farm, the forestry complex of more than 50,000 hectares on the banks of the Panguipulli River, in the Los Ríos region.
The story of how the Luksic amassed their fortune in the mining, financial and industrial sectors is written, but little is known about Iris Fontbona. Completely hermetic from the press and highly protected by her iron circle, the information she circulates usually comes from third parties who prefer to remain anonymous. Andronico Luksic Craig, without being a spokesperson for her, much less for her, is the one who has referred to her the most times. “I have two mothers,” he said. “One who died in '59, when I was four years old and another who took me when I was seven, who has been my mother to this day, whom I love, respect and adore above all things.”
After the death of her husband in 2005, Fontbona inherited his fortune and became the matriarch of the Luksic family. The three male children took over in the different areas and, although Iris does not participate in the boards of directors of the group's companies listed on the stock market, according to The secondshe does have control of the board of directors of the foundations created by her husband from where the ownership of the entire empire that the businessman and his family created in Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Canada, the United States and Croatia is derived, according to records. from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accessed by the evening newspaper.
Iris, owner of the third largest fortune in Latin America and number 56 worldwide, according to Bloomberg, has only allowed herself greater exposure when it comes to Telethon, a charity that helps children and young people with motor disabilities. . In 2010 she personally went to announce a “special” donation. Elegant, but simple, she got on stage at the National Stadium and told Don Francisco's microphone that she and her family would contribute 1,000 million pesos (about 1.3 million dollars). Luksic's widow left amid cries of “idol!” of the public.
The following year it was presented again and doubled the bet: more elegant and more contribution. Fontbona and her five children donated 1.5 billion (about $1.8 million), the highest amount received in the 33 years of the event. The “idol!” They were heard louder. Thus was born a kind of Luksic family tradition, which included the financing of a new Telethon institute in their hometown. “We are antogafastinos. Our past, present and future is linked to Antofagasta,” said Fontbona in 2014, the last time she participated in person at the solidarity event. In the following editions, her children Andrónico, Paola and Gabriela took up the baton of the advertisements and the mass bath. Guillermo died in 2013 from lung cancer and Jean Paul seems to have inherited his mother's low profile.
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