Sofia Vergara celebrates her 50th birthday with various cakes 0:42
(CNN) -
Over the years, the Hispanic presence in the United States has grown in all areas.
And the economy was no exception.
There are not a few entrepreneurs of Hispanic origin who have succeeded in the United States, creating and directing leading companies in different sectors.
Here are six of the most successful entrepreneurs of Hispanic origin in the United States.
Jorge Perez
Businessman Jorge Pérez and his wife Darlene, in a 2019 image. (Photo: Aaron Davidson/Getty Images for National YoungArts Foundation)
Considered one of the most influential Latino entrepreneurs in the United States, Jorge Pérez is co-founder of the Related Group of Florida, a condominium construction company based in Miami.
Born in Argentina to Cuban parents, Pérez grew up in Colombia before immigrating to Miami as a teenager.
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According to Forbes magazine, he currently has a fortune of US$1.7 billion and has begun to diversify his activities, with investments elsewhere in South Florida, as well as in Uruguay, Mexico and Argentina.
He is ranked 1,729th in the world's billionaires by Forbes and his best position was in 2018, when he was number 316 on the Forbes 400 list.
In 2014 he donated $40 million, half of his private art collection, to the Pérez Art Museum of Miami, known as PAMM, one of the few major institutions in the United States with a Hispanic name.
Jorge Pérez, the Latin billionaire who hides behind the artistic rebirth of Miami
Arthur Moreno
Arturo Moreno, in an image from 2017. (Photo: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Of Mexican origin, Arturo Moreno is the owner of the Los Angeles Angels, a Major League Baseball franchise, which he acquired in 2003.
He is the first Mexican-American to own a sports team in the United States, according to Forbes.
His initial fortune came from the billboard advertising company Outdoor Systems, which he sold for $8,700 in 1999 to Infinity Broadcasting in 1999. Most of his fortune is now in the Angels.
He is currently ranked 662nd in Forbes magazine's billionaires, with a fortune valued at US$4.1 billion, and in 2020 he was ranked 238th among the 400 richest people in the world.
Although he holds stakes in other billboard advertising companies, "his biggest fortune comes from the baseball franchise," according to Forbes.
George More
Jorge Mas during a match of Inter Miami, the club he owns.
(Photo: Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Jorge Mas is the president and largest shareholder of MasTec, an infrastructure engineering and construction company based in Miami.
"He is one of the most prominent Cuban-American businessmen," as defined by Forbes.
58 years old, he is the son of Jorge Mas Canosa, a Cuban exile who opposed Fidel Castro who arrived in Florida in 1960.
According to Forbes, he currently has a fortune of US$1.1 billion and ranks 2,407th among the world's billionaires.
He is also the managing owner of the MLS team Inter Miami.
Maria Contreras-Sweet
Contreras-Sweet with then Vice President Joe Biden, upon taking office in Obama's cabinet in 2014. (Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
This successful businesswoman was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1955. She became better known when in 2014 President Barack Obama appointed her to head the US Small Business Administration (SBA).
Contreras-Sweet held various positions throughout her career, both in the public and private sectors.
She is the founder of ProAmerica Bank, the first bank dedicated to serving the needs of small and medium-sized businesses.
From 1999 to 2003, she was Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing in California, the first Latina to hold a cabinet position in that state.
She currently serves on the board of directors of the Sempra Energy company and is also a director of Regional Management Corp., TriNet Group, Inc.
Marcelo Claure
Marcelo Claure, in an image from 2019. (Photo: Riccardo Savi/Getty Images for Concordia Summit)
Of Bolivian origin, Marcelo Claure is the founder of the company Brightstar Corp, based in Miami, specialized in telecommunications services.
Until January of this year, he was COO of SoftBank Group and CEO of WeWork.
Claure launched the $5 billion SoftBank Innovation Fund (SIF) in 2019, the largest technology fund in history focused exclusively on the Latin American market, according to the Council of the Americas.
He currently serves as CEO of Clause Capital, his investment company.
Anthony "Tony" Jimenez
He is the founder, president and CEO of MicroTech, a Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Business (SDVOSB).
He is an active member of the technology industry and an advocate for the veterans, Hispanic, and small business communities.
IN 2021 he was inducted into the LatinX Hall of Fame |
Hispanic Top 100 by theboardiQ, which highlights leaders making their mark in the areas of: Inclusion, Gender, Race & Ethnicity, Sexual Orientation, Country of Origin, People with Disabilities, Sustainability, Business Transformation/Resilience during the Pandemic and Technological Innovation.
As noted on its website, the company "supports dozens of major contracts throughout the government and Fortune 500 companies and employs trained professionals in more than 40 states and numerous locations abroad."
In addition, "it is a prime contractor on more than 30 government-wide procurement contracts (GWACs), has indefinite delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts, and offers access to more than 2,500 suppliers and more than one million products and services from technology in federal, state and local government agencies," as described on the company's official website.
Alberto "Beto" Perez
This Colombian raised in Cali always had a passion for dance.
And settled in Miami, he was the creator of the Zumba exercise program in the late 90's, achieving almost instant success.
In the LinkedIn profile of "Beto" Pérez, who moved to Miami in 1999, where he began to teach aerobics classes in a gym, it is recounted how an oversight led him to create the popular rhythm.
As he describes, one day he forgot the music he used for his classes and "was forced to use a Latin music cassette that he happened to have in his car. This was the first time that gym goers were exposed to a class that broke the mold of what they were used to.
Some time later, together with Alberto Perlman and Alberto Aghion, they officially created Zumba, which was distributed on DVD with great success.
In 2006, according to LinkedIn, the three partners founded Zumba Fitness LLC, to market Zumba products and content.
Currently, they have more than 200,000 locations around the world, with more than 15 million people taking classes every week, says Pérez's LinkedIn profile.
In an interview with CNN in 2019, "Beto" Pérez gave details of how his beginnings were and how he managed to succeed after his arrival in Miami.
Beto Pérez describes the beginning of his career 2:33
Joseph E. Feliciano
José E. Feliciano, in a talk given in Los Angeles in 2019. (Photo: Greg Doherty/Getty Images for SUPERCHARGED)
This namesake of the popular singer and musician is co-founder and managing partner of Clearlake Capital Group LP, a Santa Monica-based firm "known for buying software, industrial and consumer products companies," according to Forbes magazine.
Born in Puerto Rico, at the helm of Clearlake he oversees around US$24 billion and "has obtained one of the best returns in the industry", says Forbes.
Feliciano was awarded the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights 2021 Ripple of Hope Award.
According to Forbes, he currently has a wealth of US $ 4,300 million and ranks 631 billionaires in the world.
jordi munoz
Jordi Muñoz's story is similar to that of many Mexicans who come to the United States looking for a better future.
Born in Ensenada, Mexico, from a very young age he had different jobs, although computing was what really attracted him.
He arrived in the United States in 2007 when he was just 20 years old.
And from there, she did not stop growing.
According to her in an interview with Forbes Mexico magazine, the first thing she managed to do was hack a remote control helicopter.
And that earned him a contact from a Swiss company, which offered him to settle in that country and pay for his university studies.
He returned to the US in early 2009 and together with Chris Anderson set up 3D Robotics, the non-military drone factory that made him world famous.
In 2018 they partnered with Yuneec, a leading global manufacturer of consumer and commercial unmanned aerial vehicles.
It is currently a supplier to the United States government.
Carlos Castro
He is the owner and CEO of Todos Supermarket, which is based in Woodbridge, Virginia.
Carlos Castro was born in El Salvador, where he grew up poor and worked in a factory.
He decided to emigrate to the United States in 1980, in the middle of the civil war in his country.
According to his biography posted on the National Grocers Association (NGA) website, Castro opened his first supermarket in 1990 "to meet the needs of Woodbridge's growing Hispanic community."
Castro is also one of the founders of the Hispanic Organization for Leadership and Action.
He has also served on the boards of the Prince William Chamber of Commerce, Youth for Tomorrow, the Potomac Health Foundation, and the Hylton Performing Arts Center, among others.
Gloria and Emilio Estefan
Gloria and Emilio Estefan have several successful ventures in the United States.
(Photo: Lars Niki/Getty Images for New York Women in Film&Television)
Born in Cuba, Gloria and Emilio Estefan met in the United States, where they arrived at different times in their lives.
And through music they achieved worldwide recognition and fame.
Both are founders of the Miami Sound Machine and are part of the Latin American Composers Hall of Fame.
And with their musical success, they expanded their business to other areas related to tourism and gastronomy.
They own, for example, the Estefan Kitchen Cuban cuisine restaurant, opened in 2018 in the ultra-luxurious complex known as the Miami Design District.
'La Chusmita' and 'Pizza de Lechón' from Estefan Kitchen
They also own the Vero Beach hotel complex, located in Florida.
In 2015, they received the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom from then-President Barack Obama.
The Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian honor in the US and is awarded to "individuals who have made meritorious contributions to the security or interests of the United States, world peace or cultural endeavors."
Sofia Vergara
Colombian actress Sofía Vergara has several successful businesses in the United States.
(Photo: JEAN-BAPTISTE LACROIX/AFP via Getty Images)
Through her talent and her role in the hit series Modern Family, Colombian Sofía Vergara not only established herself as the highest paid actress in the world, but also became an expert in business.
In 2020, he was ranked 71st on Forbes magazine's Celebrity 100 list, earning $43 million.
Born in Barranquilla, she emigrated to the United States in the 1990s to host the program "Fuera de serie".
She and she quickly got started in business.
In 1994, he realized that there were not many agents representing Hispanics in the entertainment industry.
His response was to create a solution.
The result was a company that he launched together with his partner Luis Balaguer: the talent management firm Latin World Entertainment (LWE).
Vergara also founded Raze, a digital media company focused on the Latino community that Vergara started with Balaguer and Emilio Calemzuk, the former president of Fox Television Studios.
Another of his business successes is an underwear subscription service called EBY, a company that sells women's underwear.
Gloria EstefanHispanic HeritageHispanic HighlightsSofía Vergara