Jesus de Polanco, the Spanish media mogul and chairman of the Prisa Group, died in Madrid on Saturday after a long illness. He was 77.
Prisa’s interests include a number of left leaning media outlets including the daily El Pais and the Cadena SER radio station. It is also the principal shareholder in Sogecable, the pay-TV operator behind the Digital+ brand and the Spanish Canal+.
Prisa was formed out of the book publisher Santillana, founded by Polanco in 1958, enabling him to become one of Spain’s leading businessman under General Franco. His influence increased further after Franco’s death in 1975.
Polanco had recently appointed his son Ignacio as deputy chairman and indicated he would be his successor as chairman.
