Luis Tellez Kuenzler
Luis Tellez Kuenzler
Luis Téllez holds a BA (Suma cum Laude) in Economics from the Instituto Tecnológico
Autónomo de Mexico (ITAM), and a Ph.D. in Economics from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT).
Currently, he is Mexico´s President of Environmental Resources Management (ERM),
and a member of the Mexico´s Executive Committee of NTT Data Services Mexico.
He is also a special advisor on both corporate and strategic matters to Chubb
Mexico, Refinitiv, Estrella Blanca and Fortem; partner at Butterfly Equity, the
largest pure-play food fund in the US. and independent advisor to Infracorp, Peru.
He is a member of McLarty Associates board of advisors and special Advisor at
Angeleno Group.
Téllez is a board member of Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico (GAP), Mexico (BMV),
Element Fleet Management Corporation, Canada (TSX), Técnicas Reunidas, Spain
(BME) and Esentia. He is a board member of MABE, the largest appliance company
in Latin America, a non-listed company. He was a director of Chubb Ltd, between
2020 and 2023, where he was a member of its Audit Committee. He has been a
director of Sempra Energy, on two occasions; from 2004 to 2006 and from 2010 to
2015.
Téllez is a member of several nonprofit organizations, including the The Woodrow
Wilson Institute, where he became Co-Chairman of the WW Mexican-Institute from
July 2019 to January 2025. He is President of the Club de Industriales.
Téllez served as Head for Mexico of the investment firm KKR, during his tenure,
KKR displayed 2.6 billion USD in investments in Mexico, a position he held from
March 2015 to July 2023.
From May 2009 to December 2014, he was Chairman of the Board and CEO of the
Mexican Stock Exchange. During his tenure, Tellez presided over the largest number
of Initial Public Offerings in the history of the BMV. He was responsible for listing
the first Mexican Real Estate Investment Trust (FIBRA), and for designing an
instrument so that the Pension Fund Administrators (AFORES) could be able to
deploy resources in alternative investments such as capital and private credit, real
estate funds and others. Through this instrument, more than 4 billion dollars were
invested by the AFORES, for the financing of infrastructure, industrial parks, and 2 others. During Tellez’s tenure, revenues on the BMV grew at a 10% compound annual rate and operating margin at 830 basis points. In 2013, financing through the BMV reached a record of 7% of GDP. During his stay at the Stock Exchange, Téllez updated its technological capacity, which placed it among the best exchanges in terms of operability and low latency.
Téllez opened the Carlyle Group office in Mexico and was its co-director from 2003 to 2006. From 2001 to 2003 he was Executive Vice President (CEO) of Desc, one of largest industrial and real estate companies in Mexico, where he led the financial restructuring of the then heavily indebted conglomerate. During the period 2001-2006 he was a member of the Board of Directors of FEMSA, Grupo México, BBVA-Bancomer, Cultiba and Global Industries. He has been a member of the Advisory Council of the Mexican subsidiaries of Daimler Chrysler, Siemens and General Electric.
In the last 20 years Téllez has served as Secretary of Communications and Transportation (2006-2009), Secretary of Energy (1997-2000) and Chief of Staff of President Ernesto Zedillo (1994-1997). Téllez was also Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and Chief Economist at the Ministry of Finance.
As a public official, he was a key player in public policy decisions to improve the Mexican economy in macroeconomic, financial, energy and agricultural issues, such as: launching the most ambitious program to expand transportation infrastructure, based on public and private financing; participate in the structuring and negotiation of the financial package that allowed Mexico to resolve the financial crisis of 1995; being part of the team that implemented the rescue program for the Mexican banking system in 1995-1997; lead the expansion of power generation and transmission infrastructure in the late 1990s; lead the negotiation with Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries, which prevented the collapse of oil prices in the late 1990s; lead the expansion of oil and natural gas production in Mexico, and lead the team that established the Individualized Pension System in 1997.
Téllez co-led the constitutional changes and legislation that ended land distribution in rural Mexico and granted full property rights to ejido and communal lands. He was also responsible for negotiating the agricultural sector in the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Téllez enjoys sports, particularly tennis, swimming, and skiing. He is passionate about music, art and literature. He has been married for 43 years and is the proud father of two daughters.
