The former president of Telefónica, César Alierta, dies

Who was president of Telefónica From July 2000 to April 2016, César Alierta (Zaragoza, 1945-2024) died this Wednesday at the age of 78 as a result of a worsening respiratory illness.

His more than 15 years at the helm of Telefónica place him as the third oldest president in the history of the operator, behind its first presidents, Estanislao de Urquijo (1924-1945) and José Navarro (1945-1965). In April 2016, he replaced him as head of the company José María Álvarez-Pallete, but César Alierta continued on the board of directors until 2017, then assuming the presidency of the Telefónica Foundation.

Born in Zaragoza on May 5, 1945, he graduated in Law from the University of Zaragoza and has a Master's degree in Business Administration from Columbia University (New York).

César Alierta, who took his first steps in the financial sector, came to the business world at the hands of José María Aznar, who as President of the Government chose him to direct the then public company Tobacco, which was privatized under his mandate and which he later merged with the French company Seita, giving rise to Altadis, which he presided over until July 2000.

Among his achievements at the head of Telefónica, the strengthening of the operator in various international markets stands out, as well as the commitment to digital convergence (landline and mobile telephony, Internet and television), thus managing to stop the progressive decline in income by telecommunications operators.

In this sense, in 2014 he captained the purchase of Digital+, which led Telefónica to control key content such as football or series.