Away from the spotlight and always looking for discretion, Iris Fontbona was named the richest woman in Latin America and the 10th in the world for the second year in a row, according to the 2023 Forbes rankings. The Chilean billionaire's fortune is estimated at $24.9 billion, equivalent to more than R$122 billion.
Fontbona is 82 years old and the heiress to a mining empire. She currently advises companies run by her children.
The businesswoman was born in Antofagasta, Chile in 1942 to Luis Fontbona and Emma Morales. At the age of 17, she married Croatian businessman Andrónico Luksic Abaroa, then the owner of a Ford dealership. Years later, through a stroke of luck, he managed to become a major businessman in the mining sector.
Through a mistake in the land sale, Luksic gained enough capital to boost his business. In a negotiation with Asian consortium Nippon Minning, the purchase, worth 500,000 Chilean pesos, ultimately netted the businessman $500,000.
With the death of her husband following cancer in 2005, Fontbona took control of part of the family business, which was divided between her and her three sons JeanPaul, Andrónico and Guillermo Luksic (who died of lung cancer in 2013 at the age of 57). .
Fontbona and his sons currently control it Antofagasta Plc, owner of copper mines in Chile and traded on the London Stock Exchange. In addition, the family also has a majority stake Quinencoa listed Chilean conglomerate active in banking, brewing and industrial sectors.
According to Forbes, JeanPaul Luksic is the president of Antofagasta and Andrónico Luksic runs Quiñenco. Although Iris does not sit on the boards of directors of companies, she still acts as a kind of management consultant.
Having made few public appearances in his life, Fontbona remained even more reclusive in recent years, enjoying his days at his estates in Croatia, Liechtenstein and London.