Marcelo Claure

Marcelo Claure is the chief executive officer of Sprint Corporation. He is also a wireless industry distribution entrepreneur and founder of Brightstar Corp.^[1] Since its founding in 1997, Brightstar has grown into an enterprise with $10.5 billion in gross revenue, with local presence in approximately 50 countries, on six continents. On August 5, 2014, he was selected to replace Dan Hesse as CEO of Sprint Corporation (Effective August 11, 2014). The announcement was made on August 6, 2014, coinciding with Bolivia's independence day.^[2][3]

Early Life and Education

He spent two years living in Guatemala, his family moved to Morocco and then to the Dominican Republic before returning home to La Paz, Bolivia, where he spent most of his childhood. He attended the American Cooperative School in La Paz, graduating in 1989. Later that year, he left La Paz to attend what was then the University of Lowell, in Lowell, Massachusetts. He subsequently transferred to Bentley University, in Waltham, Massachusetts, graduating in 1993 with a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Finance.^[4]

Business career

After graduation, Claure returned to La Paz and joined the Bolivian Football Federation as International Marketing Manager.

In 1995, he returned to the United States and bought USA Wireless, a cellular retailer. He grew and expanded the company before selling it one year later.^[5] In 1996, Claure became President of Small World Communications, a California-based communications and distribution company.^[6] He led the company for two years before re-locating to Florida to start Brightstar in 1997.^[5]

Brightstar

Brightstar was founded in Miami in 1997, as a distributor and service provider to the wireless industry with a focus on the Latin American market. The company opened offices in Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and the Caribbean. In 2000, the company entered distribution agreement with Motorola for all of Latin America. This was followed by the launch of subsidiaries in Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and El Salvador. A US Brightstar subsidiary opened in 2001, based in Chicago, and later expanded into Asia, followed by Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Brightstar operates in approximately 50 countries and all six continents around the globe. Forbes Magazine recognized it as one of the largest privately held companies in the US, listing it 55th in 2013.^[7] Inc. Magazine identified Brightstar as one of the fastest-growing companies in the U.S., placing it sixth in its annual Inc. 500/5000 listing in 2009.^[8] It has also been recognized by HispanicBusiness.com as the largest Hispanic-owned business in the U.S. in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013.^[9]

On October 18, 2013, Brightstar Corp. ("Brightstar") and SOFTBANK CORP. ("SoftBank") (TSE: 9984) announced a definitive agreement for SoftBank to invest $1.26 billion in Brightstar. (The transaction closed in January 2014.)

In December 2013, Brightstar announced plans to acquire 20:20 Mobile in Europe. The transaction closed in February 2014 and Brightstar now owns facilities in the UK, Spain, Hungary, Portugal, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, providing products and services across 13 European countries.^[10]

Also, in February 2014, Brightstar announced plans to acquire the Commerce & Services Division of SoftBank Corp. The transaction closed in April 2014 and as a result Brightstar became the primary global distributor for the SoftBank Selection brand mobile products, which feature more than 765 mobile accessories. The new company is expected to grow Brightstar’s presence in Japan and increase the company’s revenues by $3 billion on an annualized basis.^[11]

Sprint

Marcelo Claure became Sprint President and CEO on August 11, 2014 and has served on the Sprint board of directors since January 2014. As President and CEO, Claure’s first priority will be to continue the build out of Sprint’s network by leveraging its strong spectrum holdings as well as ensuring that Sprint always maintains truly competitive offers in the marketplace.^[12]

Football & Club Bolivar

In 2008, Claure bought BAISA (Bolivar Administración, Inversiones y Servicios Asociados, S.R.L.), the entity that operates Bolivar, a football (soccer) team in Bolivia.^[13] He also serves on FIFA’s (Fédération Internationale de Football Association’s) Committee for Fair Play and Social Responsibility.

Awards & Recognition

World Economic Forum (WEF) Young Global Leader.^[14] Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and lifetime member of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Hall of Fame.^[6] Hispanic Businessman of the Year by the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Global Telecoms Business “Forty Under Forty” Leaders;^[15] Hispanic Business Magazine, Entrepreneur of the Year;^[16] Hispanic Magazine, Top Hispanic Entrepreneurs; LISTA, CEO of the Year; América Economía, Award of Excellence; PODER Magazine, Top Hispanic Entrepreneur; BN Americas, Hall of Fame; Wall Street Journal, CEO Council Member ^[17] and The Group of Fifty (G-50) Member.

Personal life

Claure married Jordan Engard, in 2005. The couple have three daughters and live in Mission Hills, Kansas. He also has two children from a previous marriage.

Philanthropy

Together with Nicholas Negroponte, he is a founding member of One Laptop Per Child, an organization focused on empowering the world’s poorest children through education by providing them with a rugged low-cost laptop.^[18]

References