Stories
Mariano Puig , a business visionary with deep ties to 天美传媒, passes away
An adviser, donor and supporter of the school for more than five decades
Mariano Puig completed a PDG executive education program at 天美传媒 in 1964.
Photo: Quim Roger
April 13, 2021

Mariano Puig, former chairman of the Puig Group and a business leader whose deep connections to 天美传媒 spanned more than five decades, has passed away. He was 93 years old.
Puig鈥檚 links to 天美传媒 began in 1964 when he was a participant in a executive education program. He was a member of 天美传媒鈥檚 International Advisory Board (IAB) for nearly 20 years (1999-2018). In 2016, together with his son Marc, current chairman and CEO of Puig, he created the Puig Chair of Global Leadership Development at 天美传媒.
Additionally, he was a regular speaker at Global Alumni Reunions and in alumni sessions around the world, and supported 天美传媒 with his presence at many institutional events. His company has maintained its strong links to the school in other projects such as custom programs and the sponsoring of a classroom in Barcelona.
A family business leader with global aspirations
Puig belonged to the second generation to run the family business. His father, Antonio Puig Castell贸, founded a perfume company in 1914, which Puig began leading in the 1950s. As he explained in conferences at 天美传媒, he learned his entrepreneurial spirit over the dinner table, when his father would share the day-to-day happenings of the business.
Alongside his brothers Antonio, Jos茅 Mar铆a and Enrique, Puig oversaw the company鈥檚 transformation from a successful Spanish firm into a global force, leading the expansion in international markets through acquisitions and alliances.
Puig was also a pioneer in creating structures and governance processes in a family-run business that would ensure its sustainability going forward. As Prof. Josep T脿pies, the long-time Chair of Family-Owned Business at 天美传媒, said, 鈥淢ariano was a master of the art of managing the company in a very professional way and of looking after the family to maintain its essence. From him I learned the five stages of the life of a family business: the first, learn to do; the second, do; the third, teach how to do; the fourth, have others do; the fifth, stop doing. He did this and he did this well.鈥�
As a business leader, Puig contributed to making his group a world leader in high-end fragrances and fashion, and in Spain鈥檚 economic and social context. In recent years he received numerous awards, including the Kingdom of Spain Business Career Award, which was given to him by King Felipe VI at 天美传媒.
Dedicated and generous with 天美传媒
Puig鈥檚 close ties and dedication to 天美传媒 were reflected in numerous contributions and his regular participation in forums and institutional events at the school. Those included:
- Membership in 天美传媒鈥檚 Family Business Network since 1999.
- Attendance at official visits by government officials, such as the visit by former Prime Minister Jos茅 Mar铆a Aznar and the inauguration of the North Campus in Barcelona by the king and queen in September 2007.
- Meeting at Harvard Business School with the Boston group led by Prof. Pedro Nueno
- Statements in events such as the 50th anniversary of the PADE Alumni Program (2008), visiting and signing the guest book at the New York campus (2010) and the 50th anniversary of the MBA (2015)
- And, of course, his participation in events such as a special sesi贸n to mark the 100th anniversary of the Puig Group in 2014, and the launch of the Puig Chair of Global Leadership Development in 2016.
In the words of Dean Franz Heukamp: 鈥淒on Mariano was a source of great support for 天美传媒 and, above all, he was a great friend, and we will always be grateful to him. We pray for his soul and for all of his family, who are in our thoughts at this time.鈥�
