José María Álvarez-Pallete López

Born in Madrid, in 1963.

Mr. Álvarez-Pallete joined the Telefónica Group in 1999 as a General Manager of Finance for Telefónica Internacional, and later that year he became Chief Financial Officer of Telefónica S.A. In 2002 he was appointed Executive Chairman of Telefónica Internacional. Between 2006 and 2011 he was Managing Director of Telefónica Latinoamérica. He was appointed Chairman and CEO of Telefónica Europe in 2011, and Chief Operating Officer of Telefónica, S.A. in 2012.

He is Chairman & CEO of Telefónica S.A since April 2016 and he joined the board of directors in July 2006. In February 2022 he assumed the Presidency of Fundación Telefónica. Also, since March 2019 he is member of the Advisory Council of SEAT, S.A., since 2022 member of Board of Trustees of ”la Caixa” Banking Foundation and Chair of ERT’s Committee Jobs, Skills & Impact, and in 2024 he was re-elected Chairman of the Board of the GSMA.

He began his professional career with Auditors Arthur Young in 1987, before joining Benito & Monjardín/Kidder, Peabody & Co. in 1988. He joined CEMEX in 1995 and, in 1998, he was promoted to Chief Administration and Finance Officer of the CEMEX Group Indonesia.

He has a degree in Economics from the Complutense University of Madrid and he also studied Economics at the Free University of Brussels, in Belgium. He holds an International Management Programme from IPADE.

Among many other distinctions, in 2016 he was named “Best CEO” in Spain by Forbes Magazine and the Consejo Superior de Deportes granted him the entry in the “Royal Order of Merit Sports” in the category of Bronze Medal. In 2019 he was granted with the “Cross of Military Merit with white distinction”, he received the “Manager of the Year” award in the Large Corporations category granted by the Asociación Española de Directivos and was chosen “Business Leader of the Year” by the Spain-US Chamber of Commerce. In 2020 he was awarded with the ECOFIN prize for “Financiero del Año” and the Spanish Marketing Association has named him “Lider Empresarial Impulso del Marketing”. In 2021, he was named “Honorary Ambassador of Spain Brand” by the Leading Brands of Spain Forum and Actualidad Económica has recognized him as “Best Businessman of the Year”. In November 2023, he received an Honorary Doctorate from CEU San Pablo University and was named “Business Person of the Year 2022” by the UPF Barcelona School of Management. Since January 2024, he is a Trustee of Fundación Amigos de la Alhambra. In June 2024 he has received the “Gold Medal” recognition from the Americas Society.