Eliodoro Matte Success Story

Along with two siblings, Eliodoro Matte is the biggest shareholder of a paper products and forestry company in Chile, the CMPC. They inherited the company from Eliodoro Matte Ossa, their father, who was the original founder. Until 2011, he was the president of 5 companies in the CMPC Group holdings. Despite that he has stepped down now, and still maintains leadership for Empresas CMPC, a primary holding company of the group. Along with his siblings, Eliodoro also has stakes in banking, shipping and telecom firms. Eliodoro is also the president of Public Studies Center, a conservative think tank of Chile. With a net worth of US $ 2.7 billion, he is one of the top 10 richest businessmen in Chile, and among wealthiest individuals across the globe.

Starting of the Career

Matte family is one of the richest families in Chile today, with each sibling having a net worth of around US $ 2.5 billion. They are also the wealthiest individuals in the world. Eliodoro did his studies at Saint George’s College, and did his industrial civil engineering from the University of Chile. Then he joined the University of Chicago to complete his MBA. After graduating in 1972, Eliodoro dedicated himself to teaching students at the Catholic University. In 1973, he started working as the head of finance in the Ministry of Health, as general manager in the Laboratorio Chile, and also in the treatment facilities of Building Society.

In 1976, his father asked him to join his family business, and he took over as a board representative for CMPC. 5 years later, he replaced Ernesto Ayala in the company’s general management. In 2002, Eliodoro succeeded Ernesto as president of the Empresas CMPC. As soon as he arrived, Eliodoro started internationalization of the company, acquiring several local companies, and installed own factories in the countries of Latin America Southern cone. The company was divided into 5 independent business centers, and operations were continually expanded in the south and central Chile.