German Larrea Mota-Velasco family

The Larrea Mota-Velasco family runs one of the most successful mining and logistics empires in the Western hemisphere, Grupo México, a nearly $11 billion business. The family’s patriarch, Jorge Larrea Ortega, launched several mining companies throughout the Americas and would eventually earn the unofficial title of the Copper King of Mexico. Larrea began in construction and would go on to form a number of companies, including Perforadora México, Transportación Marítima Mexicana, Grupo Aluminio and, perhaps most notably, Asarco Mexicana, which was the predecessor company of Grupo México. In 1994, he handed over the reins of the family empire to his son, Germán Larrea Mota-Velasco, who had been a director since 1981. For the past 25 years, Germán Larrea Mota-Velasco has held the positions of chairman, president and CEO of Grupo México. It was under his leadership that the company expanded into the infrastructure and rail transportation sectors. He is estimated to have a personal net worth of approximately $17 billion, making him Mexico’s second-wealthiest person, behind only Carlos Slim. He has a well-earned reputation for being a recluse who is rarely seen or photographed in public. The other portion of the family fortune is owned by his mother, Sara Mota de Larrea, Jorge Larrea Ortega’s widow.