Alejandro Agag

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Agag and the second or maternal family name is Longo.

Alejandro Agag
Agag in 2009
Born	Alejandro Tarik Agag Longo Madrid, Spain
Nationality	Spanish
Occupation	Chairman of Addax Capital LLP
Political party	Partido Popular (MEP)
Spouse	Ana Aznar Botella ​ (m. 2002)​

Alejandro Tarik Agag Longo is a Spanish businessman. He is the Chairman of Addax Capital LLP.

Early life and education

Agag was born in Madrid to an Algerian-Belgian father, Youssef Agag, who was a banker, and a Spanish mother, Soledad Longo Álvarez de Sotomayor.^[1] There, he went to Colegio Retamar, Pozuelo de Alarcón, a fee-paying school affiliated with Opus Dei, a Catholic movement. Agag graduated from the Colegio Universitario de Estudios Financieros (CUNEF) in Madrid with a degree in economics and business studies.^[2]

Political career

In 1989, Agag joined Nuevas Generaciones (NNGG), the youth organization of the main centre-right Spanish party Partido Popular, which at the time was in the opposition. He joined the international relations department due to his knowledge of multiple languages.^[3] During that time, Agag traveled extensively, representing NNGG in organizations such as the Democrat Youth Community of Europe and EYCD.^{[clarification needed]} Agag was elected International Secretary of NNGG at their congress in 1994.

In the same year, Agag graduated from university and became Deputy Secretary General of the European People's Party (EPP), an offer that was a direct result of the election of the German Klaus Welle as Secretary General a few months earlier. As Deputy Secretary General, Agag was tasked with coordinating different groups within the EPP and drafting policy papers to be presented at the congress. Agag was a member of the EPP Summit, which includes all of EPP's heads of state and government.^[4][5] Also during that year, Agag ran for a seat in the European Parliament, but did not win.

In 1996, the centre-right won the elections in Spain, and Agag became the political aide of the prime minister at the time, José María Anzar. He spent three years in that position.

In 1999, he was elected a member of the European Parliament for the Partido Popular.^[6] He entered the Economic and Monetary Affairs Commission, focusing on antitrust policy.^[6][7] The next year, he led the Parliament's report on antitrust policy and was active in redrafting that policy.

Agag and Wilfried Martens at the European People's Party congress in Berlin

Also in 2000, he was elected Secretary General of the European People's Party,^[8] replacing his colleague, Klaus Welle. During his mandate as Secretary General, the organization expanded to Eastern Europe. During that period, it incorporated more than 20 new political parties from that region. Later that year, for the first time, the EPP won the European Parliament elections and became the largest political force in Europe.^[9]

Making a controversial decision against some member parties of the EPP, he pushed for the acceptance of Forza Italia, Silvio Berlusconi's party, into the organization. Berlusconi went on to win the 2001 Italian elections.

In 2000, Agag was elected to be the Secretary General of the Christian Democratic International in Mexico, now known as Centrist Democratic International.

In 2001, Agag made a decision to cease his political activities in order to further his career in business and sporting activities. The following year he was succeeded as Secretary General of the EPP by Antonio López-Istúriz. He remained a member of the European Parliament until 2002.^[6]

Business career

In 2002, Agag moved to London and started his own consultancy firm. Agag founded a company called Addax Capital LLP, which is regulated by the FSA. Agag is currently Chairman of Addax and was joined in 2009 by Ignacio Muñoz Alonso, former CEO of Rothschild Bank in Spain.

In 2007, the Financial Times named him one of the 10 "shakers and movers" of the Spanish economy, and described him as a "political hopeful, economist, banker and indefatigable dealmaker."

GQ Magazine named him the Spanish Businessman of the Year in 2008.

Sports

Agag's business activity within sports mainly focuses on motorsport and football. According to the Spanish newspaper El País, Agag and Flavio Briatore acquired the Formula One T.V. rights in Spain.^[10][11][12]

Agag owned the Barwa Addax GP2 Series Team, which won the title in 2008 and was runner-up in 2009.^[13] He took over the team from former F1 driver Adrián Campos in mid-2007.^[14] The team's main sponsor was the Qatari real estate company Barwa.^[15] In 2010, the Addax GP3 Team competed in the GP3 Series.^[16][17][18]

Through his connection within the sport, Agag has worked with Flavio Briatore, Bernie Ecclestone and Lakshmi Mittal.^{[19][20][21][22]} Together, they bought the English football club Queens Park Rangers (QPR) in 2007.^[23]

Agag was chairman of QPR for a few months during the takeover and then remained in the club as a shareholder. QPR was promoted to the English Premier League in 2011.^[24][25]

He is chairman of the Formula E Championship, an electric car racing series. The inaugural season began in September 2014 and lasted until June 2015.^[26]

Personal life

On 5 September 2002, Agag married Ana Aznar Botella, the daughter of then-prime minister José María Aznar and politician Ana Botella, at El Escorial in Madrid. Guests included King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia of Spain. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi served as witnesses.^[27][28]

Agag is fluent in Spanish, English, French, and Italian.^[2]

Bibliography

• Alejandro Agag (2001). "The future of the European people's party". Our vision of Europe: proximity, competitiveness and visibility. Leuvent: Garant. pp. 239–242. ISBN 9789044111804. OCLC 912254670. Archived from the original on 30 August 2019.^[29]

References

1. "Who's who: Of bankers, builders and fortune makers". ft.com.
2. "BIOGRAPHY – ALEJANDRO AGAG CEO, FORMULA E HOLDINGS" (PDF). MultiVu.
3. "Parliamentary Questions". europarl.europa.eu.
4. "Ppe, ultimatum a chi sta con la sinistra". archiviostorico.corriere.it. 4 September 2000.
5. "Silvio, Pierferdinando, Flavio Tutti gli amici italiani di Agag". archiviostorico.corriere.it. 9 August 2005.
6. "Alejandro AGAG LONGO". European Parliament. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
7. "About Us". ADDAX. Archived from the original on 15 November 2010.
8. "Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats". europarl.europa.eu.
9. "Blair's rapport with Berlusconi upsets his old friends on the left". The Independent. 16 June 2001.^{[dead link‍]}
10. "El conseguidor". elpais.com. 25 February 2007.
11. "Agag, da Aznar alla Formula 1 una nuova vita tra sport e affari". archiviostorico.corriere.it. 12 August 2005.
12. "Who is Alejandro Agag and why does it matter?". grandprix.com. 29 August 2007.
13. "Alejandro Agag sabe por dónde sopla el viento de la Fórmula 1". elconfidencial.com. 8 June 2010. Archived from the original on 26 September 2012. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
14. "Renamed Addax team sign Grosjean". autosport.com. 26 February 2009. Archived from the original on 1 March 2009. Retrieved 26 February 2009.
15. "Addax Team sees Perez move to F1". motorsport.com. 6 October 2010. Archived from the original on 7 September 2012.
16. "ADDAX TEAM SIGN MEXICAN DRIVER PABLO SANCHEZ FOR GP3 2010 SEASON". theleader.info. 12 February 2010. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012.
17. "Alejandro Agag: Basta politica, ora solo corse". rottasudovest.blog.lastampa.it. ^{[dead link‍]}
18. "Barwa Campos Team begin season with victory". gulf-times.com. 14 May 2009. Archived from the original on 15 May 2009.
19. "Alejandro Agag es ya uno de los grandes empresarios de la Fórmula 1 de la mano de Flavio Briatore". elmundo.es. 11 August 2005.
20. "Alejandro Agag says no to Bernie Ecclestone". duemotori.com. 28 March 2008. Archived from the original on 14 February 2017. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
21. "Alejandro Agag, dopo Bernie Ecclestone?". rottasudovest.blog.lastampa.it. Archived from the original on 10 May 2008.
22. "Alejandro Agag: "He visto a muchos ricos arruinarse con la F1"". intereconomia.com. 8 November 2009. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011.
23. "QPR football club recommends 1p/shr offer from Flavio Briatore's Sarita Capital". abcmoney.co.uk. 3 September 2007. Archived from the original on 16 April 2010.
24. "QPR tycoons hesitate on spending spree". The Daily Telegraph. 10 January 2008.
25. Ashdown, John (7 May 2011). "Joy and relief for QPR after FA clear the path to promotion". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
26. «Formula E's beginning» Archived 12 August 2014 at archive.today. date =12 August 2014.
27. Spinant, Daniela (7 September 2002). "Spanish wedding turned into a political affair". EUobserver. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
28. "In pictures: Aznar's daughter marries". BBC News. 5 September 2002. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
29. British Library of Political and Economic Science - Routledge (10 March 2004). "Bibliography for 2002". international bibliography for the political science. Vol. 51. Routledge. p. 236. ISBN 9781134339969.