Ferran Soriano

Ferran Soriano
Personal details
Born Ferran Soriano i Compte
(1967-06-16) June 16, 1967
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Nationality Spanish
Alma mater Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium. MBA (1990); Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York. MBA (1989); ESADE, Barcelona. CE+MBA (1985–1990)
Occupation

CEO Manchester City (2012–) CEO New York City FC (2014–) CEO Melbourne City FC (2014–) Previously: Chairman at Spanair (2009–2012);

Vice-President FC Barcelona (2003–2008); founding partner of Cluster Consulting (1994–2003)

Ferran Soriano i Compte (born June 16, 1967 in Barcelona) is the Chief Executive Officer of the Premier League's Manchester City F.C., Major League Soccer's New York City F.C., and the A-League's Melbourne City FC. Between 2003 and 2008, he was the Vice-President and General Manager of FC Barcelona.

Education

Ferran Soriano is an MBA and Business studies graduate at ESADE, the New York RPI and Université Catholique de Louvain of Belgium.

He speaks Catalan, Spanish, English, French and Portuguese.

Career

Soriano has held a number of positions in companies in a variety of industries, such as consumer products, telecommunications and entertainment, and has held senior positions at The Mac Group, Reckitt Benckiser, and Cluster Consulting, a management consulting firm he co-founded in 1993.

Between 2003 and 2008, Soriano was Economy Vice President of Barcelona, having been elected with the Joan Laporta’s ticket to the club's Board of Directors. He also acted as interim CEO. Barcelona's revenues, during Soriano's tenure, increased from €123 million to €308m, while a €73m loss was turned into an €88m profit.[1] On July 6th, 2008, Soriano and seven other Board Members resigned, after a vote of non-confidence against the Board, amidst growing disagreement with Laporta’s "leadership style."

In April 2009, Soriano was elected Chairman of the Catalonia-based airline Spanair, rescued by the Catalan government from SAS with the objective of creating a hub in the Barcelona airport. Revenue improved and the company started cutting costs, but, on 27 January 2012, after a deal with Qatar Airways fell through, the airline ceased operations.[2]

On 1 September 2012, Soriano was appointed Manchester City F.C. CEO. In the first year and months of his tenure, Manchester City has cut its losses in half [3] and he claims the club will break even in the 2013-14 season.[4] Soriano replaced Manager Roberto Mancini with Manuel Pellegrini and tasked him to win “five trophies in five years”.[5] In the same period City has bought an MLS franchise in New York to create New York City FC and an existing football club in Australia (Melbourne Heart FC) initiating the club’s expansion strategy.[6]

Controversies

In January 2013, Barcelona president Sandro Rosell claimed that "Manchester City have attempted to entice a number of staff from the Camp Nou", but added "there were no fish left".[7] Rosell alleged that the Manchester club tried, in an "offensive" approach, to sign players "from all levels of Barcelona's structure," and also other employees of the Catalan side.[7] These allegations were not pursued.

In February 2013, Soriano was accused by the FC Barcelona board, led by Rosell, of authorising a £1.7 million e-mail surveillance of club employees suspected of "working against" Barca's then president Joan Laporta.[8] In March 2014, a judge cleared Soriano of these allegations.[9]

Rosell resigned from the post of Barcelona president in January 2014, one day after a Spanish court opened an investigation into Barca's €57.1 million signing of Brazilian Neymar, for an alleged "misappropriation of funds."[10] In 2017, Rosell was jailed without bail after being accused of misappropriation of funds from the €57m signing of Neymar.[11]

In September 2014, Soriano was found guilty in Spanair’s bankruptcy case and fined with £8.6 million. In May 2016, the decision was overturned by the appeal court judges who concluded that Spanair’s executives were acting in trying to "save the company," and its subsequent bankruptcy was “fortuitous”.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Ferran Soriano is the man to match Manchester City's ambitions". The National. 29 August 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  2. ↑ "Spanair shutdown strands 23,000 travelers". United Press International. January 28, 2012.
  3. ↑ "Manchester City Halves Annual Loss as Revenue Rises to Record". Bloomberg. 30 January 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  4. ↑ "City confident they can break even next year and comply with financial fair play rules". Daily Mail. 29 January 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  5. ↑ "Manchester City tell Manuel Pellegrini 'win five trophies in five years'". The guardian. 24 May 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  6. ↑ "Manchester City Football Club to acquire Melbourne Heart FC in partnership with owners of Melbourne Storm". Manchester City. 22 January 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  7. 1 2 "Manchester City 'Fishing' For Barcelona Staff, Says Sandro Rosell", Huffington Post, 15 January 2013
  8. ↑ "Ferran Soriano, Manchester City Chief Executive, Accused Of 'Spying' At Barcelona", Huffington Post, 20 February 2013
  9. ↑ "City chief Soriano makes leap to clearing name over Barca 'spying' allegations". Daily Mail. 7 March 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  10. ↑ "FC Barcelona president Rosell resigns". Euronews. 24 January 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  11. ↑ Ex-Barcelona chief Sandro Rosell held without bail
  12. ↑ "Man City CEO Ferran Soriano is free to practise business in Spain again after having judgement overturned", Irish Mirror, 2 May 2016
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