Sebasti�n Pi�era
President of Chile
Incumbent
Assumed office  March 11, 2010
Preceded by	Michelle Bachelet
Senator of Chile
In office March 11, 1990 - March 11, 1998
Succeeded by	Carlos Bombal Otaegui
President of National Renewal
In office May 26, 2001 - March 10, 2004
Preceded by	Alberto Cardemil Herrera
Succeeded by	Sergio D��ez Urz�a
Born	December 1, 1949 (1949-12-01) (age 60) Santiago, Chile
Political party	National Renewal
Spouse(s)	Cecilia Morel Montes
Children	Magdalena Cecilia Sebasti�n Crist�bal
Residence	Santiago, Chile
Alma mater	Pontifical Catholic University of Chile Harvard University
Profession	Investor Businessperson
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Website	Official website

Miguel Juan Sebasti�n Pi�era Echenique (Spanish pronunciation: [miˈɣel ˈxwan se�asˈtjan piˈɲera etʃeˈnike]; born December 1, 1949) is the current President of Chile having won the second round of the presidential election that took place on January 17, 2010, and subsequently taking office on March 11, 2010. He is a well-known economist, investor, businessperson, philantropist, politician, former Senator, and leader of the presidential and parliamentary electoral coalition Coalition for Change. Pi�era ranks among Chile's richest persons.

Contents 1 Personal life 2 Education 3 Teaching career 4 Foundations 5 Businesses 6 Political career 6.1 Presidential Elections 2009-2010 7 President-elect 7.1 Private to public transition 7.2 Council of Ministers 8 Presidency 9 Ancestry 10 References 11 External links

Personal life

Pi�era was born in Santiago to Magdalena Echenique Rozas and Jos� Pi�era Carvallo, who worked for CORFO and was Chilean ambassador to Belgium and to the United Nations. His maternal lineage is of Basque^[1] descent and his paternal lineage is of Asturian^[2] descent. He is the third child of five, with three brothers and two sisters: Guadalupe, Jos� (a former Minister of Labour under Augusto Pinochet), Pablo, Miguel (a well-known Chilean performer), and Magdalena. He is married to Cecilia Morel Montes and has four children: Magdalena, Cecilia, Sebasti�n and Crist�bal.

Education

One year after his birth, Pi�era's family moved abroad to Belgium and later to New York City where his father was the Chilean ambassador to the United Nations. Pi�era returned to Chile in 1955 and was enrolled in the Colegio del Verbo Divino ("Divine Word High School"), from which he graduated in 1967.^[3]

Pi�era then matriculated at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile to undertake his undergraduate degree in Economics, from which he graduated in 1971 with one of the highest grade point averages in the history of the university. Upon graduation, he was awarded the Ra�l Iver Oxley Prize which is given to the best overall student of each class.^[4]

Pi�era continued on to study at Harvard University on a partial Fulbright Program for his postgraduate studies in economics. During his time at Harvard, Pi�era and a classmate co-authored an article entitled, "The Old South's Stake in the Inter-Regional Movement of Slaves" for the Journal of Economic History.^[5] He also worked as a teaching fellow during 1975 and 1976^{[citation needed]}. After three years at Harvard, Pi�era graduated with both a M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics. His thesis was entitled, "The Economics of Education in Developing Countries."^[6]

Pi�era returned to Chile in 1976.

Teaching career

Once graduated, Pi�era was an educator from 1971 until 1988. He was Professor of Economics at the University of Chile, the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and Adolfo Ib��ez University. In 1971, he was professor of Economic Political Theory in the School of Economics at the University of Chile and in 1972, was a professor at the Valparaiso Business School.^[7]

Foundations

In 1989, accompanied by Cecilia Morel, Danica Radic, and Paula D�lano, Pi�era created the Enterprising Women Foundation (Fundaci�n Mujer Emprende), originally called The House of Youth (La Casa de la Juventud). The foundation aims to assist in the development of young women of lower-income.^[8]

In 1993 Pi�era created the foundation Fundanci�n Futuro, of which he is president and whose directors are Cristi�n Boza D., Mar��a Teresa Chadwick P., Hugo Montes B., Cecilia Morel M., Renato Poblete S.J. and Fabio Vald�s C. The head director of the foundation is Magdalena Pi�era. The foundation's mission is to help in Chile's development of justice, freedom and democracy.^[9] The foundation was renamed to Fundaci�n Cultura y Sociedad following Pi�era's presidential election win.^[10]

Under the Fundaci�n Cultura y Sociedad (formerly Fundaci�n Futuro) the Grupo Tantauco is created with the mission of environmentalism, and is administered by Juan Carlos Urquidi. It was created to support the proposals brought forth by Pi�era, which he plans to make effective during his presidency.^[11] An additional project titled Grupo Tantauco: Derechos Humanos was proposed with the hope of beginning a reconciliation between the Chilean people who suffered human rights violations in Chile's past history.^[12]

Businesses

Pi�era owns 100% of Chilevisi�n, a terrestrial television channel broadcasting nationwide; 27% of LAN Airlines (LAN), 13% of Colo-Colo,^[13] a football (soccer) club; and holds significant stock positions in companies such as Qui�enco, Enersis, and Soquimich.

Pi�era has built an estimated fortune of 1 billion USD as of March 2009, according to Forbes magazine.^[14] His wealth is attributed in great part to his involvement in the introduction of credit cards to Chile in the late 1970s and his subsequent investments, mainly in LAN Airlines stock. Pi�era acquired shares of the formerly state-owned company from Scandinavian Airlines in 1994, as part of a joint venture with the Cueto family.^[14][15]

In 1982, an arrest warrant was issued against Pi�era. He was accused of violating the Banking Law during his time as general manager of the Bank of Talca. Pi�era spent 24 days in hiding, while his lawyers appealed the order. A writ of habeas corpus was first rejected by the Appeals Court, but then approved by the Supreme Court, acquitting Pi�era.^[16]

In July 2007, Pi�era was fined approximately 680,000 USD by Chile's securities regulator (SVS) for not withdrawing a purchase order after he received privileged information (an infraction similar to insider trading) of LAN Airlines stock in mid-2006.^[17] Pi�era denied any wrongdoing and asserted that the whole process was part of a political attack to damage his image. He did not appeal, stating that the court process could take years and interfere with his intention to run again for president in late 2009. Later that month, he resigned from the boards of LAN and Quintec.^[18]

Political career

Pi�era declared he voted No in the 1988 plebiscite on Augusto Pinochet. However, in 1989 he headed the presidential campaign of Hern�n B��chi, a former finance minister of the Pinochet government. During the same election process, Pi�era was elected as Senator for East Santiago (1990-1998) and soon after, joined the center-right National Renewal Party. During his term as Senator he was a member of the Senate Finance Committee.

In 1992 Pi�era's attempt to become his party's candidate for the following year's Presidential election would end dramatically after he was involved in a scandal known as Pi�eragate, wherein a wiretapped conversation between himself and a friend was revealed during a political television show he attended. In the conversation-made public by the television station's owner, Ricardo Claro-he conspired to have his rival for the party's nomination, Evelyn Matthei, cornered during the show by a journalist close to Pi�era. The tape was then revealed to have been illegally recorded by a member of the military and given to Matthei, who then gave it to Claro. Matthei stepped down from the presidential race as well.

Pi�era was president of his party from 2001 to 2004. He tried to run for Senator in 2001, but resigned his campaign after the presidential candidate of his alliance -and member of the allied party, the Independent Democrat Union (UDI)-, Joaqu��n Lav��n made it clear he would not support candidates from Pi�era's party, insisting on supporting retired Admiral Jorge Arancibia instead.

On May 14, 2005, in a surprise move Pi�era announced his candidacy for the 2005 presidential election (RN was supposed to support UDI's Lav��n.) He has described his political philosophy as Christian humanism. In the first round of the election, on December 11, he obtained 25.4% of the vote, which placed him in second place. Since no candidate achieved an absolute majority, a runoff election was held on January 15, 2006, between himself and Michelle Bachelet of the governing coalition. Bachelet won the presidency with over 53% of the vote.

Presidential Elections 2009-2010

Pi�era ran for President of Chile in the 2009-2010 election. Since August 2009, he led in opinion polls, competing with Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, Marco Enr��quez-Ominami and Jorge Arrate; all of whom are left-of-center candidates. In the election of December 13, 2009, Pi�era placed first in the results by obtaining 44.05% of the votes, while Frei placed second by obtaining 29.6% of the votes. Since neither candidate received more than half of the total votes, Chileans returned to the polls for a final run-off election on Sunday, January 17, 2010.^[19]

On January 18, 2010, the third and final preliminary results were announced by the Deputy Interior Ministry. These showing accounted for 99.77% of the total ballot boxes. Of the votes, Pi�era received 51.61% and Frei received 48.39%.^[20] Eduardo Frei conceded after the first preliminary results, making Sebasti�n Pi�era the new President-elect of Chile. Further preliminary results will be made available by the Electoral Service on January 25, 2010. Official and final results sanctioned by the Election Qualifying Court will be published on the Official Gazette on February 1, 2010.

Pi�era's invested an estimated 13.6 millions USD on his Presidential campaign, which included items such as a campaign anthem^[21] and "Thank You" banners^[22]. Pi�era's banners and billboards have carried statements throughout the country such as "Delinquents, your party is over," and "Small businesses, Big opportunities"^[23]. Amongst his promises are increasing education rates and improving international relations with the neighboring country of Peru^[24].

Pi�era's victory means a shift towards the right,^[25] breaking the two-decade hold by center-left politics and becoming the first elected right-wing leader in 52 years.^[26]

On January 28, Pi�era renounced his political affiliation to National Renewal, becoming an independent. Within the party bylaws, it is stipulated that members who are elected to the presidency must renounce their association in order to govern the country fairly, foremost with the interest of the people, not with the interest of a political party or particular political philosophy.^[27]

President-elect

Private to public transition

The Pi�era Cabinet
OFFICE	NAME	PARTY	TERM
President	Sebasti�n Pi�era	Ind.	Mar. 11, 2010 -
Interior	Rodrigo Hinzpeter	RN	Mar. 11, 2010 -
Foreign Affairs	Alfredo Moreno	Ind.	Mar. 11, 2010 -
Defense	Jaime Ravinet	Ind.	Mar. 11, 2010 -
Finance	Felipe Larra��n	Ind.	Mar. 11, 2010 -
Secy. Gen. of Presidency	Cristi�n Larroulet	Ind.	Mar. 11, 2010 -
Secy. Gen. of Government	Ena von Baer	UDI	Mar. 11, 2010 -
Economy	Juan Andr�s Fontaine	Ind.	Mar. 11, 2010 -
Planning	Felipe Kast	Ind.	Mar. 11, 2010 -
Education	Joaqu��n Lav��n	UDI	Mar. 11, 2010 -
Justice	Felipe Bulnes	RN	Mar. 11, 2010 -
Labor	Camila Merino	Ind.	Mar. 11, 2010 -
Public Works	Hern�n de Solminihac	Ind.	Mar. 11, 2010 -
Health	Jaime Ma�alich	Ind.	Mar. 11, 2010 -
Housing & Urbanism	Magdalena Matte	UDI	Mar. 11, 2010 -
Agriculture	Jos� Antonio Galilea	RN	Mar. 11, 2010 -
Mining	Laurence Golborne	Ind.	Mar. 11, 2010 -
Transport & Telecom	Felipe Morand�	Ind.	Mar. 11, 2010 -
National Assets	Catalina Parot	RN	Mar. 11, 2010 -
Energy	Ricardo Raineri	Ind.	Mar. 11, 2010 -
Women	Carolina Schmidt	Ind.	Mar. 11, 2010 -
Culture & the Arts	Luciano Cruz-Coke	Ind.	Mar. 11, 2010 -
Environment	Mar��a Ignacia Ben��tez	UDI	Mar. 11, 2010 -

Pi�era will become the first billionaire to be sworn into the Chilean Presidency.^[28] He has vowed to sell his shares in corporations before being sworn in on March 11, 2010, in order to avoid conflicts of interest. Pi�era has placed 400 million USD in blind trusts. ^[29]

The Monday following Pi�era's election, expectations of sale from his largest holdings created a surge in trade of Axxion and LAN shares, causing three brief suspensions (January 19-20, 22, 2010) in the Santiago Stock Exchange in order to ease trade. Axxion shares more than tripled before falling 39% on Friday, January 22.^[30] Finance Minister Andres Velasco urged Pi�era to get the sale "sorted out quickly."^[31] The value of Pi�era's interest in Axxion was estimated at 700 million dollars USD, of his 1.2 billion dollar USD fortune at the beginning of that week^[32].

On February 5, Pi�era confirmed plans to sell his 26.3% stake in LAN airlines at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting for his main holding company, Axxion. Under the pact, Axxion shareholders have agreed to fix the price of the sale, estimated at 1.5 billion USD. The Cueto family, who currently hold 25.5% of LAN through their holding company Costa Verde Aeronautica, have the first option to purchase the stake and must decide within 20 days.^[33] On February 18, Axxion posted a statement on their website confirming the sale of a 21.18% stake in LAN Airlines to the Cueto family for 1.23 billion USD. Announcement regarding the sale of the remaining 5.16% stake is pending.^[34]

Pi�era sold his 9.7% stake in an upscale private hospital Clinica Las Condes at a price of 25,113 CLP per share (48.00 USD) through his holding company Bancard on Tuesday, February 16. The total sale of the 792,000 shares grossed 37.85 million USD and was purchased by the brokerage firm Celfin.^[35] The proceeds from the sale will go to paying off Bancard debt.^[36]

Pi�era announced Monday, February 8, he will transfer 100% of his stake in Chilevision to a non-for-profit organization called Fundaci�n Cultura y Sociedad (formerly Fundaci�n Futuro), of which he is owner.^[37] The foundation's board will include some of the station's current executives. Under the proposed outline, Pi�era maintains the right to remove and replace the foundation's president at any given time.^[38] Cristi�n Larroulet, the future Minister of the Secretariat of the Presidency of Chile, has stated Pi�era is honoring his promise of removing himself from private corporations, as Chilevision will become the property of a non-profit organization. MP Cristi�n Monckeberg (RN), stated there is no law obligating Pi�era to do otherwise and thus this decision is legally legitimate.^[37]

Pi�era will not sell his 12.5% stake in Blanco y Negro, company that owns the nation's popular soccer team Colo-Colo. He has stated, "We want big things and not only achieve local victories. The idea is to return the Copa Libertadores to Chile. That is our great goal."^[39] Although he will remain part owner, he will take no administrative duties or role while President.^[40]

Council of Ministers

Pi�era announced what he calls his "cabinet of unity" on Tuesday, February 9, 2010, at 18:00 hours (local time), in Chile's National Historical Museum. The list of names was presented the previous day to the leader of the National Renewal Party, Carlos Larra��n, and the leader of the Independent Democratic Union, Juan Antonio Coloma. The cabinet is made up of 16 men and 6 women, with an average age of 49. Amongst Pi�era's nominees is Jaime Ravinet, who is defense minister of the current president's cabinet and a former member of the Christian Democratic Party, from which he resigned upon accepting Pi�era's cabinet offer. Also a nominee is Cristi�n Larroulet, who was an economic planning adviser under Pinochet.^[41]

During his first official meeting with his Council of Ministers on Wednesday, February 10, Pi�era issued a formal memorandum calling upon all members to renounce their positions in all private companies by the 28th of February in order to avoid conflicts of interest. The memorandum also said that in regards to national heritage, secretaries of state whose affiliation with companies having direct receipt of fiscal monies must either remove themselves from those associations or honor the restrictions of their competitors.^[42] Ten of his 22 ministers have involvement in companies with significant financial means.

Presidency

Pi�era was sworn in as the 35th President of the Republic of Chile on March 11, 2010, in a ceremony held in a plenary session of the National Congress in Valpara��so. In the same ceremony, Pi�era's Cabinet ministers were sworn in. The ceremony was also marked by a 6.9 M_w earthquake and subsequent aftershocks that upset the invitees. Shortly after, the National Congress building was evacuated due to a tsunami alert that proved to be false a couple of hours later.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Sebasti�n Pi�era

16. Jos� Pi�era y Lombera               8. Bernardino Pi�era Aguirre                       17. Mercedes Aguirre Carvallo               4. Jos� Manuel Pi�era Figueroa                             9. Mar��a Luisa Figueroa Vial                       2. Jos� Pi�era Carvallo                                   10. Uldaricio Carvallo Fern�ndez                       5. Elena Carvallo Castillo                             11. Julia Castillo Go�i                       1. Sebasti�n Pi�era Echenique                                         24. Jos� Francisco Echenique Tagle               12. Jos� Miguel Echenique Gandarillas                       25. Irene Gandarillas Vald�s               6. Jos� Miguel Echenique Correa                             13. Mercedes Correa Err�zuriz                       3. Magdalena Echenique Rozas                                   14. Nicanor Rozas Rozas                       7. Josefina Rozas Arizt��a                             15. Josefa Arizt��a Pinto

References

External links

• Official website
• (Spanish) Extended biography by CIDOB Foundation
• (Spanish) Biographical notes, in Spanish

Political offices
Preceded by Michelle Bachelet	President of Chile 2010-present	Incumbent

v - d - e Presidents of Chile Blanco Encalada - Eyzaguirre - Freire - F. Pinto - Vicu�a - Ovalle - Ruiz-Tagle - Ovalle - Prieto - Bulnes - M. Montt - P�rez - Err�zuriz Za�artu - A. Pinto - Santa Mar��a - Balmaceda - J. Montt - Err�zuriz Echaurren - Riesco - P. Montt - Figueroa - Barros Luco - Sanfuentes - Alessandri Palma - Figueroa - Ib��ez del Campo - Montero - D�vila - Alessandri Palma - Aguirre Cerda - M�ndez - R��os - Gonz�lez Videla - Ib��ez del Campo - Alessandri Rodriguez - Frei Montalva - Allende - Pinochet - Aylwin - Frei Ruiz-Tagle - Lagos - Bachelet - Pi�era

v - d - e Current heads of state of the South American countries Cristina Fern�ndez de Kirchner (Argentina)  � Evo Morales (Bolivia)  � Luiz In�cio Lula da Silva (Brazil)  � Sebasti�n Pi�era (Chile)  � �lvaro Uribe (Colombia)  � Rafael Correa (Ecuador)  � Bharrat Jagdeo (Guyana)  � Ricardo Martinelli (Panama)  � Fernando Lugo (Paraguay)  � Alan Garc��a (Peru)  � Ronald Venetiaan (Suriname)  � George Maxwell Richards (Trinidad and Tobago)  � Jos� Mujica (Uruguay)  � Hugo Ch�vez (Venezuela)

v - d - e APEC leaders Gillard � Bolkiah � Harper � Pi�era � Hu � Ma � Tsang � Yudhoyono � Kan � Lee � Najib � Calder�n � Key � Somare � Garc��a � Aquino � Medvedev � Lee � Vejjajiva � Obama � Dung