Alicia Koplowitz y Romero de Juseu (born 12 September 1954) is a Spanish business magnate and former noblewoman. When her father died, she and her sister inherited Construcciones y Contratas, S.A. (CYCSA), a company founded by her father. She then sold her part of the company to her sister and created one of the largest family offices in Europe called Omega Capital. She ranks as Spain’s richest woman in Forbes 2013 World’s Richest People list (#589 in the world).
Early life and education
Alicia was born in Madrid (Spain) in 1954, the second and youngest daughter (after Esther, born in 1953) of Ernesto Koplowitz Sternberg, a Jewish businessman from Upper Silesia (Germany) who settled down in Spain to escape the increasing German Nazi persecution in the early-1930s, and Esther Romero de Juseu y Armenteros, a Spanish aristocrat. (Alicia and Esther inherited their titles from their mother. Alicia is Marquesa de Bellavista and Marquesa del Real Socorro while Esther was Marquesa de Casa Peñalver, a title now inherited by one of her daughters.) Her parents married in 1950 in a Catholic ceremony.
Using his German language skills, her father first worked for the German electronics company AEG and then in 1952, borrowing funds from a German friend, purchased the construction company Construcciones y Reparaciones S.A. which he renamed Construcciones y Contratas S.A. (CYCSA). He slowly built the company, carefully cultivating relationships during the precarious Franco era, and when Spain experienced a construction boom in the early 1960s, the company flourished.
Alicia attended the Lycée Français and University Complutense of Madrid.
| Alicia Koplowitz | |
|---|---|
| Born | Alicia Koplowitz y Romero de Juseu 12 September 1954 Madrid, Spain |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Occupation | Businesswoman |
| Net worth |  $2.5 billion USD (March 2013) |
| Spouse(s) | Alberto Cortina (1969-1990, divorced) |
| Children | Alberto Cortina Pedro Cortina Pelayo Cortina |
| Parent(s) | Ernesto Koplowitz Esther Romero de Juseu y Armenteros |
| Relatives | Esther Koplowitz (sister) |
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