Richard Carrión- Chairman of the Board of Directors of Popular, Inc.
By Bill Sarno Courtesy Carlos Cuevas
Throughout a forty-year banking career, Richard Carrión has firmly established his credentials as a top-level business executive through his success in adapting technology and extending the brand and market reach of Popular Inc., the parent company of Banco Popular de Puerto Rico and Popular Bank.
Richard Carrión- Chairman of the Board of Directors of Popular, Inc.
THE PUERTO RICO native's leadership also has impacted the sports world as a board member and negotiator for the International Olympic Committee. At Popular Inc., which is based in the Hato Rey section of San Juan, Richard Carrión currently holds the title of chairman, a function he assumed in 2017 after more than 20 years as the multinational financial conglomerate's chairman of the board and chief executive officer.
Carrión is the third generation of his family to lead Banco Popular, continuing a 90-year family dynasty that was started by his grandfather Rafael Carrión Sr. and continued by his father Rafael Jr. Today, Popular Inc. is the biggest Hispanic bank in the United States. In 1961 the company opened its first office outside of Puerto Rico, in New York City, subsequently has developed presence across the nation and in the Caribbean and Central America. Banco Popular debuted in 1893 while Puerto Rico was still a Spanish colony and was centered on what Richard Carrión calls a "social idea," to be a bank for the community. In the late 1920s, Rafael Carrión Sr. bought a majority of the bank and " gave the bank a character which still lasts to this day," his grandson said. "We have about 1,700,000 clients here in Puerto Rico, we have lots of accounts, lots of small accounts and that is really what we strive for," Carrión said.
"I WANT TO MAKE SURE MY GRANDCHILDREN HAVE A MUCH BETTER ENVIRONMENT TO GROW IN AND MOSTLY THAT THERE IS HOPE FOR PUERTO RICO.”
At the same time, Richard Carrion's commitment to the bank's historical role encompasses dedication to his father's philanthropic legacy is embodied the Fundacion Banco Popular. This foundation is very active in Puerto Rico and is known for its work to provide educational opportunities and improve the lives of the island's people. What Carrión said has really driven him is "this consciousness that we are here to make things better, and that if communities don't prosper, the bank doesn't prosper. "We have always had a function in the community, whether it is enhancing the social, the economic welfare of the communities that we serve or contributing to music, arts and sports which are very important to the definition of our culture."
Carrion's business accomplishments have brought him membership on several corporate and charitable boards. He also has become a major player in the sports world as a member of the International Olympics Committee for several decades. He has negotiated several billion dollars in television rights packages for the IOC. 2021.
This year, Richard Carrion was presented with the Latino Leaders Maestro Award for entrepreneurship. The road that lead Carrión to the pinnacles of the banking and sports worlds was greatly influenced, he said, by "coincidences that at the time didn't seem so unimportant but ended up making a big change or opening up new dimensions." One these game-changing moments came when he was attending college and was instigated by his uncle Joe Carrión, who was Banco Popular's president, while his father was chairman. Richard Carrión had been what he describes as a "hell raiser" growing up but attending the highly respected Wharton School of Business, he said, changed his perspective. For a while he thought of staying in a university environment. Carrión studied hard, he recalled, and left Wharton in 1976 with a bachelor's degree in accounting. Two years later he added a master's degree in information systems from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While at Wharton, Carrion said, the last thing on his mind was returning to Puerto Rico to work with Banco Popular. "I always felt that no matter what I did I would always be my grandfather's grandson, my father's son," he said. However, in the summer of 1976 when Carrion needed some cash he accepted his uncle's suggestion that he come to work at the bank and gravitated to the programming division. "I was hooked and this is something that became part of my life and my family and I have dedicated more than 40 years to the bank."
"I ALWAYS FELT THAT NO MATTER WHAT I DID I WOULD ALWAYS BE MY GRANDFATHER'S GRANDSON, MY FATHER'S SON."
Carrión claims he climbed the leadership ladder on the operations side and among other accomplishments, he lead the teams that were responsible for automating the bank, creating the first ATM network in Puerto Rico. "That is a really what drove me until 1985 when I was made president of the bank," he said. Carrion’s first 30 years at Popular Inc. "were very easy, then the next ten years were a lot more difficult." The financial crisis, which lasted from 2009 to 2012, he was most difficult period of his life. "They say what does not kill you makes you stronger," Carrión said, but he recalled that he was not happy to sell operations in several major cities in the U.S. and deal with layoffs.
An especially painful decision was to sell 51 percent of the bank's technology subsidiary to raise capital. "Technology has always been an important dimension in my life and in my career," he said. Carrión 's father always had this idea of creating a foundation to do a lot of the philanthropic work of the bank and in 1979 the Fundacion Banco Popular was born. When Rafael Carrión Jr. passed away he willed that his money in his profit sharing accounts – well over a million dollars – be used to establish a scholarship fund within the Banco Popular foundation for the children of company's employees. The foundation has been very active in Puerto Rico, Carrion says. "We have helped with the education of hundreds of kids and we also have endowed scholarships." He added, "For us, education is our biggest focus along with community empowerment.
The second major "coincidence" which shaped by "an old curmudgeon," a big sports fan, who was a member of the International Olympics Committee. "I tell people I was really entrapped into this movement by this guy and then I became fascinated with the sports world and it really changed my life," Carrión rose through the ranks of the International Olympic Committee, contributing as head of the finance commission and as a negotiator. He closed more than eight billion dollars in television contracts for the IOC. In 2013, Carrión won "the silver medal in the IOC presidential election,” finishing second in this vote. Today, he remains an IOC member and values in his participation in an organization that he says "is based on the very noble concepts of unity, excellence and tolerance. Moreover, he said, "I have had the opportunity to meet the most fascinating people whether it was in the television negotiations or the top athletes in the world and that is what drew me to it and has kept me there for over 30 years. I can go anywhere in the world and I know I have a colleague there who is an important person in that community that I can call."
As to what he sees as to his legacy at Popular Inc., Carrión said, "I fought for all my life for the independence of this organization and it is very important to leave a leadership team that shares a vision that understands the roots of this organization and can adapt it to future and can continue its growth."
In addition, he said he wants to leave in the area of education. One element of this involves Popular Foundation starting a project that is based on a model started in Pittsburgh by Bill Strictland. This is a after-school program to teach young high school students about the arts and also is designed to help adults learn a trade so they can be employed as part of the workforce. Another education enterprise that Carrion said he would like to leave behind through the Foundation is a small school for children that can be a demonstration project on building better schools at a cost effective price and with much better academic results. Then there is the ongoing development is the company’s Hato Rey campus. "We are frustrated architects, or urbanist,” he said of the work which he expects completed in four years.
Closer to home, Carrión, who is in his sixties, said, "I want to make sure my grandchildren have a much better environment to grow in and mostly that there is hope for Puerto Rico.”
"I FOUGHT FOR ALL MY LIFE FOR THE INDEPENDENCE OF THIS ORGANIZATION AND IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO LEAVE A LEADERSHIP TEAM THAT SHARES A VISION THAT UNDERSTANDS THE ROOTS OF THIS ORGANIZATION AND CAN ADAPT IT TO FUTURE AND CAN CONTINUE ITS GROWTH."