Iris Balbina Fontbona González (born 1942/1943) is a Chilean mining magnate, media proprietor, billionaire businesswoman, the widow of Andrónico Luksic Abaroa, from whom she inherited Antofagasta PLC. She is the wealthiest person in Chile, the third wealthiest in Latin America, and the ninth wealthiest woman worldwide in 2022 according to Forbes.
The majority of Fontbona’s fortune is derived from the Luksic family’s almost 70% stake in copper producer Antofagasta, one of the world’s largest copper producers. The family also owns 83% of Quinenco, a publicly traded holding company that controls Banco de Chile; brewer CCU; copper-products maker Madeco; and container shipping company CSAV. They also have more than 84% of the publicly traded Plava Laguna resort chain in Croatia, according to disclosures on the company website.
The family controls Antofagasta and Quinenco through several vehicles based in Liechtenstein, including the Metalinvest, Kupferberg and Aureberg holding companies and the E. Abaroa and Luksburg foundations. While those entities don’t provide individual ownership details, Antofagasta’s 2010 report said no family member has a controlling interest in the E. Abaroa foundation, which owns most of its shares.
The fortune is attributed to Iris Fontbona, widow of Adronico Luksic, because she’s the family matriarch.
The family has collected more than $10 billion in dividends as of June 2023, based on an analysis of Bloomberg data. The value of their cash investments is based on these proceeds as well as taxes and market performance. It also includes the Canal 13 television network.
Mauricio Lob, a spokesperson for Quinenco, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Fortune
Fontbona acquired her wealth following the death of her husband, Andrónico Luksic Abaroa, in 2005 from cancer.
The bulk of her husband’s business went to their three sons, Guillermo, Jean Paul and Andrónico. Jean Paul manages Antofagasta, Luksic Group’s copper mining group and one of the largest mining companies in the world.
Business
Fontbona and her family control Antofagasta, the Santiago-based mining company. Through the publicly-traded company Quiñenco, they control Banco de Chile, Madeco, a copper products manufacturer, the country’s largest brewer, CCU, and a shipping company, CSAV. CSAV is the world’s 16th largest shipping company as measured by TEUs. In 2013, she controlled 65% of Antofagasta.
Following the death of her husband, business of her husband under her control, “Fontbona managed to make their family business grow and reach its new heights of success”
This included turning the business in the second biggest bank in Chile, the biggest brewer in the world, manager of the largest copper mines in the world and controlling the world’s largest shipping company. Another one of her businesses is a pair of luxury hotel chains and a luxury resort in Croatia. One of her first major actions following her husband’s death was to acquire a 70% stake in Chilean television station, Canal 13. Much of her power in the company appears to be indirect. Major business decisions impacting the company largely run by her son, Andrónico Luksic Craig, need to be approved of by Fontbona
Philanthropy
In 2015, Fontbona donated a record CL$3.1 billion (approximately US$3.9 million) to the annual Chilean Telethon, which seeks to help children with physical disabilities. She appeared on television for a telethon, which also takes place before a live audience.
In 2016, she donated CL$4.4 billion (approximately US$5.5 million), which assisted in setting a record for the charity event in terms of funds raised
Biography
Iris Fontbona was reportedly 18 years old when she married Andronico Luksic Abaroa in 1961 (she hasn’t publicly disclosed her birthday). Luksic, the son of a Croatian immigrant father and Chilean mother, started his career at a Ford dealership in the 1950s. He moved into mining, buying exploration concessions in the Atacama desert. After selling a copper interest to Nippon Mines in 1954, the Japanese company mistakenly paid him $500,000 instead of the 500,000 pesos he had asked for — about six times his price. That cash helped him start on a decades-long expansion into industries ranging from beer to fishing to manufacturing.
He acquired the century-old, money-losing Antofagasta & Bolivia Railway Co. in 1980, eventually turning it into the copper giant that is now the family’s largest source of wealth. He combined most of his other holdings into one company in 1996, Quinenco, carrying out an initial public offering the following year. Since Luksic’s death in 2005, his family has maintained united ownership of the companies. The son from his first marriage, Andronico Luksic Craig, oversees the family’s financial holdings, while his son with Fontbona, Jean-Paul, is chairman of Antofagasta. Andronico’s younger brother, Guillermo, led the family’s industrial holdings until his death in 2013. One of Fontbona’s two daughters, Paola, manages a foundation named for the family patriarch.
Milestones
- 1926 Andronico Luksic Abaroa is born in Antofagasta, northern Chile.
- 1954 Nippon Mines buys Luksic copper assets for $500,000.
- 1954 Luksic uses proceeds to begin expansion into other industries.
- 1961 Widowed two years earlier, Luksic marries Iris Fontbona.
- 1980 Acquires Antofagasta & Bolivia Railway Company.
- 2001 Acquires control of lender Banco de Chile.
- 2005 Patriarch dies; sons Andronico, Guillermo, Jean-Paul take over.
- 2013 Guillermo Luksic Craig dies of cancer at 57 years old.
