Xavier López Ancona

Xavier Lopez Ancona Martinez was born in Mexico City on April 4, 1964. His father, Isidro Lopez Martinez, worked at a variety of businesses, largely in the food industry and real estate. His mother was a housewife who raised seven children. As child, he wanted to be a magician, and performed in nursing homes and orphanages. He later did a year of high school in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Ancona comes from a large family. He has no children, but he has 16 nephews and enjoys taking them on trips, skiing and diving.

Ancona has a bachelor's degree in business administration from Anahuac University in Mexico City, a master's degree in administration from the Pan-American Institute of Business Administration (IPADE), and an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

When his father's real estate company in the San Juan Ixhuatepec area went bankrupt in 1984, Ancona supported his father. As a result he was given the task of selling most of the properties to avoid large losses.

Ancona studied marketing under Philip Kotler, while working toward his master’s degree. Kotler's classes, leadership and knowledge were key factors when Ancona decided to start and launch the concept of KidZania. In 1999, Ancona founded Kidzania with the goal of making entertainment inclusive, as well as to increase its educational value. One of the most important lessons Ancona learned during the process of taking KidZania from an entrepreneurial project to a multinational company was that businesses and cities are highly intertwined.

Ten million children have visited Kidzania to date. Due tp the success of the Mexico City park, Ancona plans to open more parks in the U.S.