Jorge Vergara
Encyclopedia
Jorge Vergara is a Mexican businessman and film producer. He's the founder of Grupo Omnilife, one of the top 200 corporations in Mexico. Grupo Omnilife owns the football (soccer)
clubs: Club Deportivo Guadalajara of Mexico
, C.D. Chivas USA of Major League Soccer
, and Chivas Hefei.
He has also produced internationally recognized movies like The Assassination of Richard Nixon
and the Oscar-nominated Y tu mamá también
through Producciones Anhelo.
, Vergara once sold tacos on Mexican streets. Back in the 1980s Vergara sold condominiums and timeshares in Manzanillo
, Mexico
, where he met and began working with John Peterson.
When Peterson became a Herbalife
salesperson, he recruited Vergara and together they began selling Herbalife products in Mexico
. Since Herbalife had not received Mexican government approval to sell their products, Peterson and Vergara had to smuggle the products into the country. After six months of smuggling the products into Mexico, Herbalife took notice and began the process of getting government approval. Vergara was asked to help get the Herbalife products approved by the Mexican government and was instrumental in helping Herbalife's founder, Mark Hughes deal with the Mexican Government. This gave Vergara insight into how a multi-level company profits and expands into other countries. Vergara was partners with Roger Daley, Jim Fobair and Charlie Ragus. With already the 51% of the company, Vergara acquired the rest of Omnitrition at the end of the deal with his U.S. partners and took the whole control of Omnitrition de Mexico. Since its foundation in 1991, the privately owned corporation has grown from one company, Omnilife de Mexico, to comprise nineteen companies. Today, approximately 5.2 million people distribute Omnilife products in 22 countries, while the company has reached annual sales of nearly $1 billion dollars.
Vergara has been the director of Omnilife de Mexico since 1991.
while seeking out filmmakers for his corporate movies. Cuarón, however, was more interested in filming Y tu mamá también
, and gave Vergara the screenplay. A known lover of films, Vergara read it and right away proposed that they begin production. In the process they established a production company Producciones Anhelo that would go on to co-produce Guillermo del Toro
's El Espinazo Del Diablo (The Devil's Backbone), along with Pedro Almodóvar
's El Deseo
and del Toro's Tequila Gang. Anhelo also produced Sebastián Cordero
's Crónicas
.
Vergara has always guaranteed his directors creative freedom and the best possible production quality. In 2002, Variety
named him one of its Ten Producers to Watch. For the 2004 edition of the Guadalajara Film Festival, Vergara created the JVC Award for Best Director, which was given to Fernando Eimbcke for his feature debut Temporada de patos
.
All-Star Game at the Home Depot Center, he sat in a pregame press conference and boldly announced intentions to expand Chivas to MLS.
There was a mixed reaction to the announcement, immediate excitement around the high-profile international investor's interest in a league fraught with struggle in contrast to reticence about adding another team in Southern California. Eventually, Vergara and MLS inaugurated Chivas USA in 2004. The Red and White played its first official season in 2005. In five seasons of operation, Chivas USA recorded four straight MLS playoff appearances.
Vergara has been very controversial in regards to the multiple ownership of football clubs.
Jorge Vergara is a founding member of the Americas Business Council Foundation (ABC), alongside his wife Angelica Fuentes
, as well as Guillermo Romo
, President of Grupo Mega, and Emilio Azcárraga Jean
, CEO of Televisa.
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
clubs: Club Deportivo Guadalajara of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, C.D. Chivas USA of Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...
, and Chivas Hefei.
He has also produced internationally recognized movies like The Assassination of Richard Nixon
The Assassination of Richard Nixon
The Assassination of Richard Nixon is a 2004 American film, directed by Niels Mueller. It stars Sean Penn, Don Cheadle and Naomi Watts, and is based on the story of would-be assassin Samuel Byck, who plotted to kill Richard Nixon in 1974. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2004...
and the Oscar-nominated Y tu mamá también
Y tu mamá también
Y tu mamá también is a 2001 Mexican comedy-drama film directed by Alfonso Cuarón, and co-written by Cuarón and his brother Carlos. The film is a coming-of-age story about two teenage boys taking a road trip with a woman in her late twenties; it stars Mexican actors Diego Luna and Gael García...
through Producciones Anhelo.
Herbalife and Omnilife
Born in Guadalajara, JaliscoGuadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality...
, Vergara once sold tacos on Mexican streets. Back in the 1980s Vergara sold condominiums and timeshares in Manzanillo
Manzanillo, Colima
The name Manzanillo refers to the city as well as its surrounding municipality in the Mexican state of Colima. The city, located on the Pacific Ocean, contains Mexico's busiest port. Manzanillo was the third port created by the Spanish in the Pacific during the New Spain period...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, where he met and began working with John Peterson.
When Peterson became a Herbalife
Herbalife
Herbalife International is a global nutrition, weight-loss and skin-care company. The company was founded in 1980 and it employs around 4,000 people worldwide. Herbalife reported net sales of USD 2.7 billion in 2010...
salesperson, he recruited Vergara and together they began selling Herbalife products in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. Since Herbalife had not received Mexican government approval to sell their products, Peterson and Vergara had to smuggle the products into the country. After six months of smuggling the products into Mexico, Herbalife took notice and began the process of getting government approval. Vergara was asked to help get the Herbalife products approved by the Mexican government and was instrumental in helping Herbalife's founder, Mark Hughes deal with the Mexican Government. This gave Vergara insight into how a multi-level company profits and expands into other countries. Vergara was partners with Roger Daley, Jim Fobair and Charlie Ragus. With already the 51% of the company, Vergara acquired the rest of Omnitrition at the end of the deal with his U.S. partners and took the whole control of Omnitrition de Mexico. Since its foundation in 1991, the privately owned corporation has grown from one company, Omnilife de Mexico, to comprise nineteen companies. Today, approximately 5.2 million people distribute Omnilife products in 22 countries, while the company has reached annual sales of nearly $1 billion dollars.
Vergara has been the director of Omnilife de Mexico since 1991.
Film Production
In 1999 Vergara met film director Alfonso CuarónAlfonso Cuarón
Alfonso Cuarón Orozco is a Mexican film director, screenwriter and film producer, best known for his films Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Y tu mamá también, and A Little Princess.- Early life :...
while seeking out filmmakers for his corporate movies. Cuarón, however, was more interested in filming Y tu mamá también
Y tu mamá también
Y tu mamá también is a 2001 Mexican comedy-drama film directed by Alfonso Cuarón, and co-written by Cuarón and his brother Carlos. The film is a coming-of-age story about two teenage boys taking a road trip with a woman in her late twenties; it stars Mexican actors Diego Luna and Gael García...
, and gave Vergara the screenplay. A known lover of films, Vergara read it and right away proposed that they begin production. In the process they established a production company Producciones Anhelo that would go on to co-produce Guillermo del Toro
Guillermo del Toro
Guillermo del Toro is a Mexican director, producer, screenwriter, novelist and designer. He is mostly known for his acclaimed films, Blade II, Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy film franchise. He is a frequent collaborator with Ron Perlman, Federico Luppi and Doug Jones...
's El Espinazo Del Diablo (The Devil's Backbone), along with Pedro Almodóvar
Pedro Almodóvar
Pedro Almodóvar Caballero is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer.Almodóvar is arguably the most successful and internationally known Spanish filmmaker of his generation. His films, marked by complex narratives, employ the codes of melodrama and use elements of pop culture, popular...
's El Deseo
El Deseo
El Deseo is film production company owned by Spanish film producers the Almodóvar brothers . Films produced by the company include All About My Mother, Talk to Her, My Life Without Me, Bad Education, Volver, Broken Embraces and The Skin I Live In.- External links :* Film production company owned...
and del Toro's Tequila Gang. Anhelo also produced Sebastián Cordero
Sebastián Cordero
Sebastián Cordero is a film director, writer and editor, often recognized for his work in Ratas, Ratones, Rateros, his debut film which portrays the life in a poverty-stricken Ecuador...
's Crónicas
Crónicas
Crónicas is a 2004 Ecuadorian thriller film, written and directed by Sebastián Cordero. The film was produced by Guillermo Del Toro, director of Pan's Labyrinth, and Alfonso Cuarón, director of Y Tu Mama Tambien...
.
Vergara has always guaranteed his directors creative freedom and the best possible production quality. In 2002, Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
named him one of its Ten Producers to Watch. For the 2004 edition of the Guadalajara Film Festival, Vergara created the JVC Award for Best Director, which was given to Fernando Eimbcke for his feature debut Temporada de patos
Temporada de patos
Temporada de patos is a 2004 Mexican film. It is the first feature film by writer/director, Fernando Eimbcke, a former MTV Awards videoclip director....
.
Chivas
Vergara gained Club Deportivo Guadalajara ownership in 2002. His goal from the get-go was to expand the Chivas brand any and every way possible. Not long after he took ownership in Mexico, while attending the 2003 Major League SoccerMajor League Soccer
Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...
All-Star Game at the Home Depot Center, he sat in a pregame press conference and boldly announced intentions to expand Chivas to MLS.
There was a mixed reaction to the announcement, immediate excitement around the high-profile international investor's interest in a league fraught with struggle in contrast to reticence about adding another team in Southern California. Eventually, Vergara and MLS inaugurated Chivas USA in 2004. The Red and White played its first official season in 2005. In five seasons of operation, Chivas USA recorded four straight MLS playoff appearances.
Vergara has been very controversial in regards to the multiple ownership of football clubs.
Philanthropic Work
In 2001, Vergara signed a partnership through EDUCARE to collaborate with the National Council for Science and Technology. Since this partnership began, he has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to more than 30 projects related to health, wellness and food sciences. His philanthropic activities with the community also led to his establishment of Fundación por los Niños del Planeta.Jorge Vergara is a founding member of the Americas Business Council Foundation (ABC), alongside his wife Angelica Fuentes
Angelica Fuentes
Angélica Fuentes Téllez is the CEO of Grupo Omnilife, a consortium anchored in the nutritional supplement industry in Mexico and in 22 countries worldwide. Most recently, Fuentes has been responsible for the firm’s major financial and corporate restructuring efforts...
, as well as Guillermo Romo
Guillermo Romo
Guillermo Romo is the President & CEO at Grupo Mega, one of Mexico’s leading businesses offering financial solutions for business sectors. Romo is also the former owner of Grupo Industrial Herradura, S.A. de C.V. which he sold to Brown-Forman Corp., the maker of Jack Daniel's whiskey for $876...
, President of Grupo Mega, and Emilio Azcárraga Jean
Emilio Azcárraga Jean
Emilio Fernando Azcárraga Jean or Emilio Azcarraga III, is a Mexican businessman and the son of Emilio Azcárraga Milmo and his third wife, Nadine Jean a French citizen....
, CEO of Televisa.