Ricardo Claro
Chile
Ricardo Claro
  • Chair, Claro Group (Compañia Sud Americana de Vapores S.A.) (Shipping)
Born Santiago, Chile, 1940; died Santiago, Chile, 2008. Law degree, Universidad de Chile (1958).
“[B]esides profit-making, companies must also provide good services to their personnel, get involved in community matters, and engage in cultural, art and educational development.”

Summary

Ricardo Claro details his long legal career as both a partner at Claro y Cía and a professor at Universidad de Chile and discusses Chilean politics at length. He charts the evolution of the banking industry in Chile from his orchestrated takeover of Banco Hipotecario in the mid-1960s as a young man to its nationalization and re-privatization. Ricardo Claro’s first-hand account of the BHC takeover points out to the little known fact that there was a dramatic change in the Chilean business landscape before the military coup and the liberalization of the economy. He also discusses his diverse investments in Elecmetal, Cristalerías de Chile (glass manufacturing), the Santa Rita vineyards, Sudamericana de Vapores, Interoceánica (shipbuilding), and Diario Financiero and Megavisión (news and television).

 Read more

Ricardo Claro details his long legal career as both a partner at Claro y Cía and a professor at Universidad de Chile and discusses Chilean politics at length. He charts the evolution of the banking industry in Chile from his orchestrated takeover of Banco Hipotecario in the mid-1960s as a young man to its nationalization and re-privatization. Ricardo Claro’s first-hand account of the BHC takeover points out to the little known fact that there was a dramatic change in the Chilean business landscape before the military coup and the liberalization of the economy. He also discusses his diverse investments in Elecmetal, Cristalerías de Chile (glass manufacturing), the Santa Rita vineyards, Sudamericana de Vapores, Interoceánica (shipbuilding), and Diario Financiero and Megavisión (news and television).

 Close

Download Interview Transcript

Additional Resources

Additional Resources

Interview Citation Format

"Interview with Ricardo Claro, interviewed by Andrea Lluch, Santiago, Chile, January 14, 2008, Creating Emerging Markets Project, Baker Library Historical Collections, Harvard Business School, http://www.hbs.edu/creating-emerging-markets/."