Ana Botin Opens Up on How She Was Abruptly Fired by Her Father

(Bloomberg) -- Banco Santander SA’s Ana Botin said the “amazing” but complicated relationship with her late father Emilio was never the same after he fired her to push through a merger.

Botin, who was famously let go in 1999 when her father was chairman of the lender, explained in an extensive interview on Spanish TV how her departure was required for the merger with Banco Central Hispano. BCH demanded she leave as a condition for the deal, after a newspaper profile of her talked about how only a Botin could rise to be chairman of the bank.

Botin, who has been accused by one lawmaker of having more political influence than elected officials, has gradually increased her public profile since taking over as chairman following the death of her father in 2014.

Here are some key excerpts from the hour-long interview with Jesus Calleja, a TV presenter and adventurer:

On how her father fired her

“He called me on a Sunday and said: ‘Look, the best for the bank and for you is that you leave tomorrow. Go get your things and leave because if not, there’s no merger’.”

“I think he did what needed to be done. The way he did it was what damaged me a lot. I will always remember the phrases he used in that moment.”

“The relationship from a family point of view with my father was always amazing.”

After he fired her, “the family relationship was really good but it wasn’t the same.”

On the relationship with her father

“If you ask me who has been the biggest influence in my life, it was my mother more than my father. She educated us in a way that was very advanced for that time.”

“The relationship with my father as a father was very good. As a boss, it had its ups and downs.”

“My father never said to me: come and work at Santander.”

On her return to Santander

“I was out of the bank for three years. I launched an investment fund and two foundations all on my own account without money from the bank or my father or the family. In economic terms, in three years I earned more than I had earned in the previous ten years.”

“My father called me on a Monday,” she said, offering her the job of chairman of Banesto. “I said to him: ‘how much time do you give me to respond?’ He looked at me and says: ‘How much time? Right now’.”

On taking over as chairman

“Some people remained from the previous team but not many. We were in a new stage and it required a renovated team and we did this quite quickly. Something I learned was that the quicker you change things, the better.”

On being a woman in finance

“Two weeks ago I was in Paris at a meeting of the 100 largest banks in the world. Do you know how many women there were out of the 100? Three. I defend diversity of all types and we’re nowhere near arriving at gender diversity at upper levels in finance and companies.”

“What most made me angry was in meetings where my boss, who was my father, told me to shut up. I learned how to speak with more conviction.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Charlie Devereux in Madrid at cdevereux3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dale Crofts at dcrofts@bloomberg.net, Christian Baumgaertel

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.