Emilio Azcárraga

"Mexico has become a nation of television viewers. The average number of hours per day that Mexicans spend in front of the television exceeds that of the United States and European countries. From the most educated sectors to those with the least resources, everyone receives the complex stimuli of the small screen, which for more than 20 years was practically monopolized by Televisa’s programming. Emilio Azcárraga’s company has been the main influence on the cultural, political, and economic attitudes of the majority of the Mexican population. The ruling party itself has had to use it to connect effectively with its potential voters."

"This was Emilio Azcárraga’s greatest irony: while he was obsessed with control, his whims often got out of hand. Despite being a visionary entrepreneur—a keen theorist of long-term scenarios and a deft prophet in communications—he was very erratic as an administrator. As he liked to tell his executives: “A true entrepreneur always has more projects than money.” He was fascinated by the fertile world of business and enjoyed predicting how the seeds he had sown would germinate and flourish in the years to come, but he was also quickly bored by details—that is, having to invest time in the watering and pruning of his fields—and if he did not see an immediate planting, he often lost interest."