Carlos Pellas Chamorro

Carlos Pellas Chamorro is a Nicaraguan businessman. The controlling shareholder of Grupo Pellas, Chamorro is Nicaragua's first billionaire.

Carlos Francisco Pellas Chamorro was born in Managua, Nicaragua, on January 10, 1953. He is the son of Alfredo Pellas Chamorro and Carmen Chamorro Benard. He is married to Vivian Fernández de Pellas, with whom he has three children. He studied economics and obtained a master's degree in Food Research and Business Administration from Stanford University.

He served as director of the Nicaraguan Chamber of Industries for more than 20 years and as a director of Visa International-Latin America and IBM Latin America for more than 5 years. In 2012, he was elected Vice President of the Board of Directors of INCAE.

Pellas is chairman and majority shareholder of Grupo Pellas, a company which owns sugar mills, produces ethanol, and provides the raw material for the Flor de Cana brand of rum. Grupo Pellas controls companies with stakes in media, distribution, insurance, citrus, health care, and automobile dealerships.

Pellas is Chairman of the Board of BAC Florida Bank, the SER Holding, owner of two refineries, two distilleries, and a biofuel plant in Central America; Companía Licorera de Nicaragua (maker of Flor de Caña and other rums, with sales of more than 3 million cases worldwide); GBM Corporation, an IBM alliance company with exclusive distribution rights in Central America and Dominican Republic; Pellas Development Group, with real estate investments in the region. He is also director and partner of Casa Pellas, which distributes Toyota, Hino, Suzuki, and Yamaha in Nicaragua.

He founded BAC Credomatic Network in 1985, and sold it in 2010 in what is recognized as the largest financial transaction ever in Central America.

On October 21, 1989, Pellas and his wife were on a plane crash in a Boeing 727 of the Honduran airline SAHSA. The plane traveling from Managua to Miami would stop in Tegucigalpa, but shortly before landing it crashed into Cerro de Hule. Only 10 people survived of 158 passengers; this accident is considered the greatest air disaster that has occurred in Central America. Vivian Pellas suffered serious burns on much of her body, suffered 62 fractures, and underwent more than 20 surgeries. Carlos Pellas lost the phalanges of four fingers from his left hand – he uses prosthesis - and he suffered several burns on his right hand and arm.

Pellas is member of the Board of: INCAE Business School, a graduate business school in Central America, which has graduated more than 5000 students in its 50 years of history. He is Vice-President of this prestigious center. American Nicaraguan Foundation (ANF), chaired by his brother Alfredo Pellas, distributes approximately 120 million dollars a year in donations in favor of the most vulnerable population in Nicaragua. Asociación Pro-Niños Quemados de Nicaragua (APROQUEN), headed by his wife Vivian. In its 25 years of existence, APROQUEN has provided more than 500,000 health services, free of charges, including 34 thousand surgeries, to improve the lives of burned children in Nicaragua.

He is the President of Centro Empresarial Pellas (CEP), which promotes entrepreneurship through the strengthening of small and medium-sized enterprises. CEP has supported over 1000 SME’s, helping them increase sales by 37% and generate over two thousand new jobs, and of International Game Fish Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of game fish throughout the world. He is also a member of the President's Leadership Council of the Inter-American Dialogue.

The Chambers of Commerce of Latin America in USA named Pellas Businessman of the Year in 2005. Top executives and entrepreneurs from Central America have chosen him in the last five years as one of the most admired businessmen in the region. He was distinguished in April 2008 by the President of Italy with the Order of the Stella Della Solidarietá Italiana in Grande Ufficiale. In October 2008 he was named Honorary Consul of Italy in Granada, Nicaragua. The American Nicaraguan Chamber of Commerce – AMCHAM - awarded him the Business Excellence Award in 2012.

The American Nicaraguan Chamber of Commerce – AMCHAM - awarded him the Business Excellence Award in 2012. In September 2013, the National Chamber of Tourism of Nicaragua (CANATUR) elected him "Entrepreneur of the year 2013", for his decision to create a world-class resort that would serve as the spark to turn Nicaragua into a Tourist Destination. In October 2013 he and his wife received the “Integral Entrepreneurs” award by the Business Council of Latin America (CEAL). In May 2014, the InterAmerican Institute for Democracy conferred him and his wife the award "Henri Dunant for Social Corporate Responsibility".