Corona founder Antonino Fernández makes hometown villagers millionaires in will

All 80 residents of the sleepy Spanish village of Cerezales del Condado have simply grow to be millionaires.

However their success isn't the results of profitable El Gordo (The Fats One), Spain's nationwide lottery. It's just because the tiny hamlet was the birthplace of Antonino Fernández.

Mr Fernández was the eleventh of a household made up of 13 kids and emigrated to Mexico in 1949, when he was 32.

He went on to grow to be the CEO of Grupo Modelo, the brewery firm who make Corona beer.

Antonino Fernández (pictured in Cerezales del Condado) has made everybody within the village a millionaire

Fernández (pictured) was liable for the development of the large brewery in Guadalajara which is the place Corona remains to be brewed

All 80 residents of the sleepy Spanish village of Cerezales del Condado have grow to be millionaires in a single day

£169m of his fortune was left to the residents of Cerezales (pictured), the village in Leon province the place he was born and raised

Mr Fernández died in August this yr, aged 99, and was by then a billionaire.

Beneath his eccentric will, £169m was left to the residents of Cerezales, the village in Leon province the place he was born and raised, with every villager inheriting roughly £2m.

Fernández married Cinia González Díez, whose uncle owned the Grupo Modelo brewery

Fernández was born on December 13, 1917 into grinding poverty and on the age of 14 Fernández needed to go away college as a result of his mother and father couldn't afford the charges. 

After the Spanish Civil Struggle he moved to the city of Leon in Northern Spain, the place he married his spouse Cinia González Díez.

His nephew Carlos Fernández González took over as CEO of Modelo

In 1949, his spouse's uncle, who owned Grupo Modelo, invited the couple to maneuver to Mexico, the place Fernández started working for the brewery, as a warehouse worker.

He labored his means up via the ranks, and by 1971 he had risen to CEO and he helped make Corona not solely Mexico's hottest beer but additionally an enormous export phenomenon, together with in his native Spain the place it's bought underneath the Coronita model.

He maintained his place as CEO till 1997 and as Chairman of the Board till 2005, with each roles later taken over by his nephew Carlos Fernández González. 

He additionally remained because the Honorary Life Chairman of Grupo Modelo till his loss of life.

Corona Additional is the second most imported bottled beer in the US, with annual gross sales of $693million (£556million). 

Fernández was honoured by the previous King of Spain, Juan Carlos, for his charitable deeds

Antonino Fernandez, proper, with Justino Compean, left, President of Mexican Soccer Federation, and Angel Maria Villar, centre, of the Spanish Royal Soccer Federation. A pleasant match was held between the nationwide groups at Grupo Modelo

Maximino Sanchez, who owns the one bar within the village, which is stocked stuffed with Mexican beers, advised the Diario de León newspaper: 'We by no means had any pesete (cash) earlier than. I do not know, what we might have completed with out Antonino.' 

Corona Additional (pictured) is the most effective promoting imported beer within the US, with annual gross sales of $693million

Fernández was a widely known philanthropist who by no means forgot his motherland and was honoured by the previous King of Spain, Juan Carlos, for his charitable deeds, together with his work with disabled younger folks.

Fernández established an organisation in Leon known as Soltra, which provides employments alternatives to disabled folks, in addition to the same firm named after his spouse, Cinia, which operates in Mexico. 

He additionally arrange the 'Cerezales Antonino y Cinia' Basis in his hometown in 2009, to assist rural initiatives within the space.

But it surely was solely after his loss of life that it was clear to the folks of Cerezales how a lot he cherished his birthplace.

The village can be getting a model new cultural centre, paid for out of his inheritance and an area non-profit basis with 300 workers may also profit.

 

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