Richard Carrion
Encyclopedia
Richard L. Carrion Rexach (born November 26, 1952 in San Juan
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...

, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

) is the current Chairman and CEO of Popular, Inc., parent company of Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, Banco Popular North America and E-Loan
E-Loan
E-Loan, Inc. is a Rosemont, Illinois-based financial services company that offers savings accounts and certificates of deposit and access to partners that may be able to assist customers in obtaining loans....

.

Early life

Carrion was born and raised in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

. His grandfather was one of the founders of Popular, Inc. (BPPR). He received a bachelors degree from the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce in 1974 and an MS in Management Information Systems from the MIT Sloan School of Management
MIT Sloan School of Management
The MIT Sloan School of Management is the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge, Massachusetts....

 in 1976. After the Master’s Degree, Mr. Carrión joined Banco Popular in 1976. After his father's death, Carrion became the leader of that banking corporation.

Popular, Inc.

Richard L. Carrión is the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Popular, Inc., a publicly traded financial holding company with more than $45 billion in consolidated assets. Today, Banco Popular, a wholly owned subsidiary of Popular, Inc., is Puerto Rico's leading depository institution, the largest Hispanic-owned bank in North America, and one of the 30 most important financial institutions in the Americas. As CEO, Carrion has led the way through numerous innovations in the company such as its expansion through the Caribbean, Latin America and the United States.

While Mr. Carrión was President of Banco Popular, Popular completed the acquisition of various financial institutions, including Banco de Ponce, Banco Roig, Seminole Bank, First State Bank of Southern California, Gore Bronson Bancorp in Chicago and Aurora National Bank. At the time of the acquisition, Banco de Ponce
Banco de Ponce
Banco de Ponce was one the largest banks in Puerto Rico. In 1990 it merged with Banco Popular creating Puerto Rico's largest bank. At this time, Banco Popular's holding company changed its name to BanPonce Corporation. Banco de Ponce had established an agency in New York that it had converted to a...

 was the second largest bank in Puerto Rico. Recently, he also headed Popular’s recent acquisition of Quaker City, a savings and loan holding company for Quaker City Bank, based in Whittier, California, and Kislak National Bank, a Florida-based commercial bank.

In the information technology arena, Mr. Carrion’s vision brought the first network of ATMs to Puerto Rico and many other Latin American countries, and also spearheaded the successful migration from paper to electronic transactions. In 1999, after the acquisition of GM Group, Inc., the largest data processing center in the Caribbean, Popular consolidated its leadership role in the technological arena, thus creating EVERTEC, a new leader in information technology.

As of May 24, 2010, Popular Inc.'s board of directors announced that David Chafey, Jr.
David H. Chafey, Jr.
David H. Chafey, Jr. was the Chief Operating Officer of Popular, Inc. and former President of Banco Popular de Puerto Rico. Chafey is a member of the Caribbean Business Hall of Fame in recognition of his being named one of Puerto Rico's Top Ten Business Leaders for the fifth year in row in...

, president and chief operating office would no longer be employed by the company. The board appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Richard Carrión as President. The company added that the position of Chief Operating Officer would not be filled at this time.

Philanthropy

For almost three decades Mr. Carrión has divided his time between Popular and philanthropy, placing particular emphasis on education and sports. He is the founder and trustee of the Banco Popular Foundation; which, among other charities, has donated scholarships to over 1,000 students through the Rafael Carrión, Jr. Scholarship Fund. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Puerto Rico Telephone Company and Verizon. Since 1992, Carrión has also been involved in the production of music videos that highlight Puerto Rico's musical culture and history. In 2007, he was appointed a member of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Finance Commission.

Mr. Carrión has also contributed to improving Puerto Rico's public education system. He participated in Sapientis Week, an initiative sponsored by the non-profit Sapientis
Sapientis
Sapientis is a non-profit organization based in San Juan, Puerto Rico whose mission is to improve the quality of public education as a means to reducing poverty, stimulating economic growth and enhancing the standard of living in Puerto Rico.-Context:...

 which brings distinguished public figures into classrooms in order to raise the public's awareness of the education crisis in Puerto Rico.

International Olympic Committee

He has been a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since 1990 and currently chairs the Finance Commission and is a member of the IOC’s Marketing, TV and Internet Rights Commissions. Mr. Carrión led the negotiation team for the U.S. broadcast of the 2010 and 2012 Olympic Games - generating $2 billion in revenue - and was elected to the IOC Executive Board in 2004. He was one of the torch carriers for the 2006 Winter Olympics
2006 Winter Olympics
The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter...

 in Torino, Italy.

From 1987, he and the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee led a fight to try to bring the 2004 Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

 to San Juan
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...

. That bid failed, however, when Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

 was voted in 1997 as the city to host those games.

Personal life

Mr. Carrión, an old-school business native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, is married to Conxita Martorell and has five children: Io Ana, Richard, Ceciliana, Ana Sofía and Rafael Luis. Carrion is the cousin of famous Puerto Rican actress and radio talk show host Camille Carrion.

See also

  • Rafael Carrión, Sr.
    Rafael Carrión, Sr.
    Rafael Carrión, Sr. , the patriarch of one of Puerto Rico's financial dynasties, was one of the founding fathers of Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, the largest bank in Puerto Rico and the largest Hispanic bank in the United States.-Early years:Carrión came from a humble family, His father was José...

  • List of famous Puerto Ricans
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