How Germán built the fortune
The foundation of Germán Larrea's wealth is Grupo México, a company his father, Jorge Larrea Ortega, assembled from the 1960s onward. The elder Larrea started in construction and then moved into mining when Mexican law required foreign owned mines to sell majority stakes to Mexican investors. In 1978 his group bought control of the Mexican subsidiary of the American smelting company Asarco, and in 1990 it acquired the Cananea copper mine in Sonora when the government privatized it.
Germán took over as chairman and chief executive in 1994 and pushed the company into much larger territory. In 1999 Grupo México bought Asarco itself, gaining mines in Arizona and control of Southern Peru Copper. Those assets were later combined into Southern Copper Corporation, which is listed in New York and Lima and holds some of the largest known copper reserves of any producer. Rising global demand for copper, used in power grids, electronics and electric vehicles, has been the main driver of the family's fortune.
At the same time, Larrea built a second pillar in transport. When Mexico privatized its national railway in the late 1990s, Grupo México won the concession for the Pacific North route, which became Ferromex. The rail business later absorbed Ferrosur, bought the Florida East Coast Railway in the United States in 2017, and was listed in Mexico as GMéxico Transportes.
Companies and holdings
Grupo México is organized in three divisions, all controlled by the Larrea family:
- Mining, through Americas Mining Corporation, which owns Southern Copper (mines in Peru and Mexico) and Asarco (mines and processing in Arizona and Texas).
- Transportation, through GMéxico Transportes, operator of Ferromex, Ferrosur and the Florida East Coast Railway.
- Infrastructure, including oil drilling services, engineering and construction, and toll highways.
The family also owns Cinemex, one of Mexico's two main cinema chains, through a separate holding. Larrea remains chairman of Grupo México and is closely involved in major decisions, including large capital projects such as new mines and smelter expansions.
Copper production is concentrated in a small number of very large open pit mines, such as Buenavista del Cobre and La Caridad in Sonora and Toquepala and Cuajone in southern Peru. The group has spent heavily on new concentrators and on proposed projects such as Tía María in Peru, which has faced years of local opposition. Because most of its profits come from copper, the value of Larrea's holdings rises and falls with world metal prices.
Early life and career
Larrea was born in Mexico City in 1953. He studied business at Anáhuac University in the city and started working in his family's companies while still young. Before rising to the top of Grupo México he took on a range of roles in its mining and corporate operations, learning the business through the period when his father was expanding it through acquisitions.
He held senior positions in the group for years before succeeding his father as chairman and chief executive in 1994, a role that made him responsible for one of Mexico's largest private employers. He is known for keeping an unusually low profile: he rarely gives interviews, seldom appears at public events, and leaves most communication to company statements and executives. That reserve has continued even as the group has faced public controversy in Mexico.
Philanthropy and public life
Grupo México's operations have drawn heavy criticism. In 2006 an explosion at the Pasta de Conchos coal mine in Coahuila killed 65 miners, and the recovery of their remains became a long running political issue. In 2014 a spill of copper sulphate solution from the Buenavista del Cobre mine contaminated the Sonora River, leading to fines and a remediation fund. The company has also had long disputes with mining unions and with communities around projects in Peru.
Corporate social programmes run through Fundación Grupo México, which supports health care, environmental projects and community development near the company's operations. In 2022 and 2023 Larrea was the leading bidder for Citigroup's Mexican retail bank, Banamex, but he withdrew from the talks in 2023. Personal charitable giving outside the company is not widely documented.