The ranking of ‘ The 100 most important businessmen in Mexico ‘ usually has few new faces. In a listing that is controlled by a handful of second- and third-generation families and entrepreneurs, climbing is not so easy.
This year, there are three businessmen who appear for the first time in the ranking: Gerardo Benavides Pape , president of Grupo Industrial Monclova; Germán Rosales Wybo , president of Verde Valle, and Andrés I. Gómez Martínez , president of Grupo Axo.
In addition, three more returned to the list after some absent editions: José Antonio Rivero Larrea, president of Compañía Minera Autlán; Luis Miguel Monroy Carrillo, president of Grupo La Moderna, and Carlos Rojas Mota Velasco, president of Rotoplas.
Who are the new faces of ‘The 100 Entrepreneurs’?
Gerardo Benavides Pape, President of Grupo Industrial Monclova
Gerardo Benavides Pape, originally from Coahuila, is the chairman of the board of directors of Grupo Industrial Monclova (GIMSA) and the Acereros de Monclova baseball club. Enter the list at position 72.
Its industrial holding company GIMSA, with more than 70 years of history, participates in the metalworking, steel, chemical, railway, and oil and gas sectors, among others. It has a presence in six states in the country and markets its products and services in Mexico, the United States and South America. It has more than 5,000 employees, 12 plants and 15 companies.
GIMSA has three joint ventures with The Greenbrier Companies, a leading provider of equipment and services for rail and maritime transport, based in Oregon, United States, which has manufacturing plants in the neighboring country, Mexico, Poland, Brazil, Romania and Turkey, as well as clients in America, Europe and the Middle East.
Gerardo Benavides is passionate about baseball. His team, Acereros de Monclova, participates in the Mexican Baseball League. In recent years, the businessman, together with the Coahuila government, has invested just over 300 million pesos in the Monclova Stadium, which was significantly improved.
German Rosales Wybo, president of Verde Valle
Germán Rosales Wybo runs Verde Valle, the main marketer of rice and beans in Mexico, which was founded by his father, Sergio Rosales. He makes his entrance at position 99.
He is a specialist in the creation and management of brands and published the book ‘Hagamos Marca En México. How to Build a Valuable Brand’.
Verde Valle has more than 50 products on the market, including rice, beans and various seeds such as quinoa, chia, walnuts, almonds and granola. It has a presence in more than 200 towns in Mexico, with its own distribution, sales and marketing system, and exports to the United States and Spain.
Currently, it bags around 40,000 tons of rice and beans annually. Its products are sold in the main self-service stores in the country, such as Walmart, Aurrera, Soriana, La Comer, HEB, Costco, SAM’s, Alsuper, Casa Ley, S-Mart or Amazon, among others.
The company, in addition, with which the administration expects that 24 products of the basic basket will drop on average from 1,129 pesos to 1,039 pesos and that they remain so until February 28, 2023.
Andrés Gómez Martínez, president of Grupo Axo
Andrés I. Gómez Martínez runs Grupo Axo, one of the largest retail multi-brand operators in clothing, footwear, accessories and furniture in Mexico. It represents brands like Calvin Klein, Coach, Guess, Nike, or Tommy Hilfiger. It debuts in the ranking at position 100.
The company has a broad and diversified portfolio of 20 leading global international brands and 14 digital stores and the Privalia platform. It operates 5,562 points of sale in Mexico and Chile, of which 764 are points of sale in the retail sector.
In recent years, he has increased the size of his company with various acquisitions, including the purchase of Multibrand Outlet Stores, Privalia México, Talented People and ON Stores México (a subsidiary of The Gap). Your company’s revenues went from 1,790 to 16,111 million pesos, with an average annual growth of 27.7%.
Axo also recently agreed to an equity investment with BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, in exchange for a 2.98% interest in the company, in non-voting shares. It intends to take advantage of the new funds to expand in Latin America, focusing on growing its digital channels after the effects that the pandemic left on physical stores.
