Spanish banker Emilio Botin has an estimated net worth of $1.1billion. He earned his net worth as the Executive Chairman of Spain’s Grupo Santander in 1986. His bank absorbed Banco Español de Crédito (Banesto) in 1993 and it merged with Banco Central Hispano in 1999. The merging of the two banks created the Banco Santander Central Hispano (BSCH) that became Spain’s largest bank. He was co-president with Central Hispano’s José María Amusategui until his retirement in 2002. BSCH acquired the British bank, Abbey National, in 2004. This made BSCH the second largest bank in Europe by market capitalization. The bank now has over 13,000 branches around the world including the U.S. through Sovereign Bank and in the UK. With its early presence in Latin America, the banks in the region now contribute 51% to profits.

In 2011, the bank posted $7.1 billion in net profits, a 36.4% drop over the previous year as the Spanish economy dropped and real estate prices continued to fall. He wrote down $2.4 billion in Spanish real estate and $792 million in Portuguese goodwill. In the same year, the family paid $264.2 million in penalties to avoid charges of tax evasion, related to a secret Swiss bank account of unknown size.

Born Emilio Botín-Sanz de Sautuola y García de los Ríos on October 1, 1934 in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, he is the eldest of the two sons. He came from a family of bankers. He is known for his obsession with growth and performance as well as regularly visiting branches. In July 2008, he was named the Best Bank in the World by Euromoney magazine. As of March 2012, he is #1075 in The Forbes Billionaires and #12 in Spain. His daughter and apparent heir, Ana, runs Banesto, the bank’s retail branch.