Jerónimo Arango

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Jerónimo Arango is a Mexican businessman, co-founder of the Aurrerá chain of supermarkets along with his 2 younger brothers, the famous Manuel and the Spanish-celebrity Placido, known for a long time as three of Mexico's wealthiest men. His fortune was estimated at 4.6 billion United States dollars in 2006 by Forbes magazine ^[1].

Born in 1927. Arango founded his Aurrerá discount stores in 1958 after a trip to New York where he witnessed people standing in long lines to obtain discounts at stores; he decided to open one that sold at discount, emphasizing cost over other niceties. The stores flourished and eventually his family's company, Grupo CIFRA, encompassed the largest supermarket chain in Mexico (including Aurrerá and Superama stores) as well as restaurants (VIPs and El Portón) and fashion stores (Suburbia).

By 1991 Arango partnered with Sam Walton's Wal-Mart empire, a move which eventually brought the Wal-Mart retail stores to Mexico. The Mexican chain was later renamed Walmex and became the starting point for Wal-Mart's expansion in Mexico. By 1997 the Arango family decided to sell majority shareholding of CIFRA to Wal-Mart in an operation worth over 2 billion dollars.

Manuel, Jeronimo's brother, is one of the most important men in Mexico. He's the President of the Mexican Center for Philantropy as well for more than 10 different non-profit organizations. He won 2 Academy Awards in the 1970's for the production of a well-known documentary about Prehispanic life. His wife, MarieTherese is the President for the Mexican-Folk Art Museum.