From the serious illness that kept him out of prison to the death of his two children, the tragedies of the founder of Bankinter

The founder and former president of Bankinter, Jaime Botin-Sanz de Sautuola Garcia de los Riospassed away this Thursday, August 15, in Santander at the age of 88. The famous banker, who always tried to stay away from public life, recently celebrated the victory of one of his grandsons, Diego, also Ana Botín’s nephew, at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where he participated in the 49er sailing event. However, his life has not been all joy. He has had fortune, but also illness. He was even on the verge of going to jail.

After four decades as a member of the board of one of the world’s largest banks, Emilio Botín’s wayward brother left the board of directors in 2004meetings and reports to devote himself to philosophy and the sea. After paying 91.7 million euros to avoid the prison sentence that was requested for a smuggling crime. Then, in 2021 he was back in the news because the judge suspended the prison sentence due to “the serious illness” that he suffered “with incurable conditions”.

The sentence arose from his attempt to transport by land and sea, with his ship Adixa Picasso painting that he had bought in 1977 and that the Spanish State had prohibited him from taking out of the country. It was 2015, and the painting Head of a young woman, valued at 26 million euros, was intercepted on its way to the Reina Sofia Museum. However, his serious pains saved him from prison. He, like his brother, was an art lover. In fact, there are those who suggest that he loved the beauty of an oil painting more than his duties at the bank. In the biography Jaime Botín, a banker by mistake? Eva Contreras wrote that “He wanted to enjoy life and was annoyed by the endless bank meetings”.

Family tragedy

A graduate in Law and Economics, he also had a taste for literature. In fact, after quietly moving away from his duties at the bank, -his entourage described him as an “extremely shy” person- He decided to study pure philosophy. This type of discipline helped him forget not only his physical discomfort, but also the tragedies that had struck him years before.

The banker He went through a divorce and several complicated moments. He married Belén Navedadaughter of the president of the Santander Maritime Club, and with her he had eight children. Unfortunately, two of them died in a fire in a family home.His son Alfonso followed in his father’s footsteps, also working in banking. Lucrecia is a respected film producer, Marcelino is a naval architect, Gonzalo is a lawyer and Marta breeds horses.

Later, Ana Botín’s uncle married Adela Bermúdez for the second time.who gave his name to the ship Adix, with which he attempted to transport the Picasso to Geneva.

Founder and majority shareholder of Bankinter

The Botín’s career in the banking sector began in 1956when he began his career at Banco Santander, which was chaired by his father, Emilio Botín Sanz de Sautuola, and to which he was linked almost all his life, becoming first vice president from 1999 to 2004. However, Botín’s figure has been closely linked to Bankinterbank in whose foundation he participated in 1965date on which he was also appointed managing director. In 1977, and after Bankinter went public (it did so in 1972), he became managing director, a position he held until 1986, when He became its president for a total of 16 years, until 2002..

After leaving his executive functions, Botín remained until the date of his death as the Bankinter’s largest shareholder, with 23.19% of the share capital of the bank through the family holding company Cartival. Jaime Botín had, in 2021, a fortune valued at 1.85 billion euros, according to the ranking of Forbes.