30 EXATEC EGADE: José Antonio Fernández Carbajal (MA'79)
By INSTITUTIONAL COMMUNICATION | EGADE BUSINESS SCHOOL
José Antonio Fernández Carbajal (MA'79) is one of the most influential figures in Latin American business.
As Executive Chairman of the Board and CEO of FEMSA, José Antonio has led this multinational company in its evolution into a business model that generates economic and social value at scale, with more than 380,000 employees in 18 countries.
FEMSA has its roots in the brewing industry, specifically in Cervecería Cuauhtémoc, founded in Monterrey in 1890, and has evolved into one of the most important companies in Latin America, operating in multiple sectors through OXXO, Coca-Cola FEMSA, and other businesses in gas stations, pharmacies, digital financial services, distribution, and refrigeration.
TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP
His journey with FEMSA began in 1988. Since then, José Antonio has held key positions, including CEO of OXXO, and from 1995, CEO of FEMSA, a role he first held until 2013. In 2001, he also assumed the role of Chairman of the Board, a position he continues to hold today.
In 2023, he returned as CEO of FEMSA to lead a new phase of transformation through the Forward strategy, which set the course toward a business model focused on retail and beverages, powered by a customer-centered digital ecosystem. This plan also included the divestment from Heineken (of which FEMSA had become the second-largest shareholder after merging it with Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma in 2010) and the logistics business.
Today, José Antonio also serves as Chairman of the Board of Coca-Cola FEMSA, is a board member of Industrias Peñoles, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He was Vice Chairman of the Board of Heineken NV, where he also chaired the Sustainability and Responsibility Committee.
EDUCATIONAL IMPACT
Beyond the business world, his impact on education has been equally transformational. José Antonio has been part of the Board of Directors of Tecnológico de Monterrey since 1990 and chaired it from 2012 to 2023, becoming the fourth chairman after Don Eugenio Garza Sada, Eugenio Garza Lagüera, and Lorenzo Zambrano. During his tenure, he championed the creation of Líderes del Mañana, the first scholarship program to cover 100% of university tuition for young people with high potential for social transformation.
For over 30 years, he has also been a professor at Tecnológico de Monterrey and serves on the Board of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
José Antonio holds a degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Tecnológico de Monterrey and a Master in Business Administration from EGADE Business School.
A firm believer in the power of business as a force for good, he is a strong advocate for conscious capitalism:
“Capitalism upholds free enterprise as one of its core principles, assuming that companies create value for their shareholders. Today, we clearly know this is not enough. Therefore, it is time to shift towards Conscious Capitalism, which creates economic, social, cultural, and intellectual value and recognizes that creativity is limitless, and must be stimulated,” he wrote in an article.
He adds:
“Companies must care for the well-being of everyone they interact with—employees, customers, suppliers, communities—all working together in favor of the planet.”
José Antonio is a prominent member of the EXATEC EGADE community, whose strategic vision and dedication to sustainable development continue to shape the present and future of business in Latin America and beyond.
