Making bold decisions

What has been one of the most difficult decisions you have made?… Diane Brady, Head of Content at Business Week, recently asked me that question.

I think that maybe one of the most complicated decisions I have made, but at the same time the most sound decision was to enter the Hispanic market in the United States through the purchase of Univision.

At the beginning of the 90’s, I was extremely interested in entering the United States market and was sure that our programming would be well received by the Hispanic population.. However, it was not something that many people believed in. They thought that the market was different and that content had to be produced in the United States in order to be successful.

When Univision was put up for sale, I decided to take the risk and, together with Emilio Azcárraga Milmo and Jerry Perenchio, we staked not only USD $500 million but also our reputations.

Despite Emilio’s death in 1997, the company continued and, thanks to our success, Univision was sold in 2007 for USD $12 billion.

Read more about that decision in “Hard Choices” in Business Week.

Gustavo A. Cisneros on Buying Univision