The fourth richest person in Argentina dies at the age of 89

The Argentine businessman Gregorio Pérez Companc, owner of the food products companies Molinos Río de la Plata and Molinos Agro, and the oil company Pecom, died this Friday at the age of 89, as confirmed by political figures and media in the South American country.

“I say goodbye to one of the great entrepreneurs, organizers and builders of great things in Argentina“, said the former provisional president of the Senate, Federico Pinedo (2015-2019), in a message published on his official profile on the social network X.

Perez Companc (Buenos Aires, 1934) was, according to the list published periodically by Forbes magazine, the fourth richest person in Argentina, with an estimated net worth of US$ 4.2 billion.

After his business beginnings in various fields, Pérez Companc founded the Pérez Companc oil company in 1948 (Pecom) and in 1968 the Banco Río de la Plata.

In 1975, the businessman acquired most of the shares of the Sociedad Argentina de Electricidad, and six years later, he created Combustibles Nucleares Argentinos in partnership with the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA).

But the most important move in his long business career came in 1998, when he bought the food products company Río de la Plata Millsmatrix of brands like Cook, Luchetti, Blancaflor and Galloand one of the main business conglomerates in its sector in Latin America.

In 2016 it was spun off, separating the cereals and oilseeds business from the rest of the company and renamed Molinos Agro.

Perez Companc He retired from corporate activity in 2009, handing over ownership of his companies to his seven children.

In May 2024, three of his heirs acquired the shares of the family holding company from the rest of their brothers.

Through a foundation named in his honor, Pérez Companc financed several education and health projects, including the biopark Temaikenthe first in Latin America.