Jaime Carvajal y Urquijo

Jaime Fernando Carvajal y de Urquijo (Llodio, Spain; June 9, 1939), 5th Marquis of Isasi and Marquis Consort of Hoyos, is a Spanish economist, lawyer and aristocrat with an extensive professional career as a financier, entrepreneur, businessman, investor and philanthropist.

Biografía y trayectoria profesional

Born on June 9, 1939, Jaime Carvajal Urquijo holds a law degree from the Complutense University of Madrid and a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Cambridge. From 1948, he was educated alongside Juan Carlos de Borbón, the future King of Spain, at a small school designed specifically for the then-young prince. He received the National Baccalaureate Award. In 1963, he began working at Banco Urquijo, where he would be appointed president in 1978. During the constituent legislature (1977-1979), he served as a senator by royal appointment and was also one of the signatories of the 1978 Spanish Constitution.

In 1980, following the first democratic elections in Spain since the Second Republic, he was invited to join the Trilateral Commission and, shortly thereafter, became a member of the Bilderberg Club’s Executive Committee. He was appointed active but non-executive chairman of Ford Spain (1981-2002), Ericsson Spain (1995-2011), ABB Spain, Plus Ultra, and Parques Reunidos.

Between 1983 and 1988, he was Chairman of Banco Hispano Industrial, and in 1988 he founded Iberfomento, a company dedicated to venture capital and mergers and acquisitions consulting, which years later formed a joint venture with the British investment bank Kleinwort Benson, whose board he joined. In 1995, he became the first chairman and co-founder of the Spain-United States Council, a private, civil organization supported by the governments of both countries, created to promote cooperation and ties between Spain and the United States. In 2002, he became Managing Director & Partner of Advent International, one of the world’s largest private equity firms. Simultaneously, Carvajal Urquijo was appointed Senior Advisor at Morgan Stanley, a position he currently holds.

He has combined these activities with responsibilities such as Vice President of Ferrovial, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Prado Museum, President of the Reina Sofía Orchestra, and serving on the boards of Telefónica, Repsol, Unión Fenosa, Abengoa, Asland, and Indra Sistemas, as well as some non-Spanish companies such as SGS Holdings, Kleinwort Benson Group, and Dufry.

In 2014, he co-founded and became the first president of the Endeavor Spain Foundation, a global organization that supports high-impact entrepreneurs with the capacity to create skilled jobs, generate profits, and inspire future generations of entrepreneurs.

Jaime Carvajal Urquijo is currently a trustee of the Zubiri Foundation, a trustee of the Hay Derecho Foundation, a member of the UNIR Social Council, vice president of the Institute of Directors and Administrators, and an investor and advisor to new entrepreneurs.

Family

In September 1962, he married Isabel Hoyos Martínez de Irujo, a landscape painter and pianist, 5th Marchioness of Hoyos and Grandee of Spain, with whom he had four children: Ana María (1963), Jaime (1964-2020), Victoria (1966), and Luis (1969). His parents were Isabel Urquijo Landecho and Francisco de Borja Carvajal y Xifré, 4th Marquis of Isasi and Count of Fontanar.

Distinctions

• Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Merit
• Order of Constitutional Merit
• Commander of the Order of the Polar Star (Sweden)
• Honorary Doctorate from Miguel Hernández University (awarded on October 3, 1998)
• Member of the Royal Cavalry Order of Seville