Interview with Ricardo Claro, interviewed by Andrea Lluch, Santiago, Chile
Contributors: Lluch, Andrea, interviewer; Harvard Business School
Publisher: Harvard Business School
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Boston, MA
Language: eng
Format: [electronic resource]
Number of pages: 38
Subjects: Interviews; Industrialists; Wine industry; Shipbuilding industry; Telecommunication; Manufacturing industries; Banks and banking; Corporations; Finance; Business; History; Economic conditions; Politics and government; Commerce
Description: Mr. Claro details his long legal career as both a partner at Claro y Cía and a professor at Universidad de Chile and discusses Chilean politics at length. He charts the evolution of the banking industry in Chile from his orchestrated takeover of Banco Hipotecario as a young man to its nationalization and re-privatization. Mr. Claro also discusses his diverse investments in Elecmetal, Cristalerías de Chile (glass manufacturing), the Santa Rita vineyards, Sudamericana de Vapores, Interoceánica (shipbuilding), and Diario Financiero and Megavisión (news and television). He identifies a voracious appetite for information and openness to globalization and technology as the major contributing factors to his success.
Notes: Interview translated into English. Transcript available in English and Spanish.

Title from PDF title page (viewed on September 18, 2014).

Interviewed in Spanish on 2008 January 14 in Santiago, Chile by Dr. Andrea Lluch, HBS Research Associate, through the sponsorship of the Business History Initiative, Harvard Business School.

Interview with Ricardo Claro, interviewed by Andrea Lluch, Santiago, Chile, January 14, 2008, Creating Emerging Markets Oral History Collection, Baker Library Historical Collections, Harvard Business School.

System Requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Mode of access: World Wide Web

Born in Santiago, Chile, in 1934, Ricardo Claro received his primary and secondary education at St. George's College in Santiago. He obtained his law degree from the Universidad de Chile Law School in 1958. He joined the prestigious corporate law firm of Claro y Cía as a partner in 1960 and remained with the firm until his death in 2008. From 1961 to 1990, he was a law school professor at the Universidad de Chile. In the private sector, he served on the boards of several influential enterprises, including shipping giant Compañía Sudamericana de Vapores, steel manufacturer Elecmetal S.A., Viña Santa Rita winery and exporter, glass manufacturer Cristalerías de Chile, and the media outlets of Diario Financiero newspaper and Megavisión television. He held a number of positions in the public sector as well and participated in many social and cultural organizations. He was granted numerous distinctions and honors for both professional excellence and civic commitments.

Forms part of: Latin American oral history collection, 2006-2009.

Forms part of: Creating Emerging Markets oral history collection, 2006-