Banco Santander, S.A.
Leadership History
4 leaders · 1986 to present
Héctor Grisi is the CEO of Santander, in the role since 2023. The first chief executive was Jose Antonio Alvarez, from 2015.
| Name | Role | From | To | Years in role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hector Grisi | Chief Executive Officer | 2023 | Present | 3 |
| Jose Antonio Alvarez | Chief Executive Officer | 2015 | 2022 | 7 |
| Ana Botin | Executive Chair | 2014 | Present | 12 |
| Emilio Botin | Former Chairman | 1986 | 2014 | 28 |
Banco Santander is a mass-market retail and commercial bank headquartered in Boadilla del Monte near Madrid. At June 2026 it had about 185,000 employees, 182 million customers, 3.5 million shareholders and ~$2.2 trillion (EUR 1.95 trillion) in total assets. Its core markets are Spain, the UK, Portugal, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and the US, after the 2026 exit from controlling Santander Bank Polska. The company is headquartered in Madrid, Spain.
Santander makes most of its money from net interest income: it gathers customer deposits (~$1.28 trillion (EUR 1.13 trillion) at June 2026) and lends them out as mortgages, consumer and auto loans, and business credit (~$1.3 trillion (EUR 1.15 trillion) of loans). In 2025 net interest income was ~$47.8 billion (EUR 42.3 billion) and net fee income ~$15.5 billion (EUR 13.7 billion). The group now runs five global businesses: Retail & Commercial Banking; Openbank (consumer finance and the digital bank, renamed from Digital Consumer Bank in Q1 2026); Corporate & Investment Banking; Wealth Management & Insurance; and Payments (Getnet and Ebury). Local banks are run as capital- and liquidity-self-sufficient subsidiaries.
Chief Executive Officer
2023 – Present
3 years (current)
Former head of Santander Mexico and North America; group CEO since January 1, 2023, succeeding Jose Antonio Alvarez. Responsible for executing ONE Transformation and the 2028 targets.
Chief Executive Officer
2015 – 2022
7 years
Alvarez, previously chief financial officer, became chief executive in January 2015 as Ana Botin began her term as executive chair.
He oversaw a 7.5 billion euro capital increase in 2015 and the 2017 purchase of Banco Popular. Hector Grisi succeeded him at the start of 2023.
Executive Chair
2014 – Present
12 years (current)
Led the 2017 Banco Popular rescue, launched the ONE Santander and ONE Transformation programs, and oversaw the 2025-2026 portfolio reshuffle: selling control of Santander Bank Polska and buying TSB and Webster.
Previously ran Santander UK; became executive chair in September 2014 after her father's death. Under her the group moved toward global businesses and shared technology rather than a loose federation of local banks.
Former Chairman
1986 – 2014
28 years
Launched the 1989 Supercuenta high-interest account, merged with Banco Central Hispano in 1999, bought Abbey National in 2004 and joined the 2007 ABN AMRO break-up to gain Banco Real.
Turned a Spanish bank into a multinational group with major franchises in Latin America and the UK.
Santander must manage credit cycles, currencies and regulation across many banking systems at once. Falling interest rates can pressure net interest income, Latin American currencies swing reported euro results, and conduct issues create provisions; in 2026 UK motor finance provisions weighed on the Openbank unit. Integrating TSB and Webster while hitting 2028 targets adds execution risk.
Ana Botín (Ana Patricia Botín-Sanz de Sautuola O'Shea) has served as Executive Chair of Banco Santander since September 10, 2014, serving as the supreme strategic and governance leader of the global banking group.
After graduating from Bryn Mawr College and studying at Harvard, Ana Botín worked eight years at JP Morgan in New York. She joined Santander in 1988, led its Latin American expansion, served as Executive Chairman of Banesto (2002-2010), and successfully turned around Santander UK as CEO (2010-2014).
Emilio Botín served as Executive Chairman from 1986 until his death in September 2014. Known for his red ties, razor-sharp instincts, and bold dealmaking, Botín transformed Santander from the sixth-largest bank in Spain into the most valuable financial institution in the Eurozone.
Héctor Grisi Checa became Chief Executive Officer of Banco Santander on January 1, 2023. A Mexican banker with over 35 years of financial experience, Grisi spent 14 years at Credit Suisse before serving as Executive Chairman and CEO of Santander Mexico and head of North America.
José Antonio Álvarez served as Chief Financial Officer (2004-2014) and CEO of Santander for eight years (2015-2022). Partnering closely with Ana Botín, Álvarez steered the bank through post-crisis balance sheet repair, the Banco Popular rescue, and European digital transformation.
Santander operates under a two-tier governance model: Executive Chair Ana Botín focuses on long-term strategy, fintech innovation, culture, and board governance, while CEO Héctor Grisi leads daily global commercial operations, financial results, and subsidiary management.
Ana Botín has been repeatedly ranked by Forbes and Fortune as one of the Most Powerful Women in the World, was appointed Honorary Dame Commander of the British Empire (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II, and served as President of the International Monetary Conference (IMC).
In late 2018, Santander announced the hiring of UBS investment banker Andrea Orcel as CEO. In January 2019, Santander rescinded the offer after finding that reimbursing Orcel's €50+ million deferred compensation from UBS was incompatible with corporate culture, leading to a high-profile legal dispute in Madrid.
José García Cantera has served as Chief Financial Officer of Santander since 2015, having previously served as CEO of Banesto and head of Santander Global Wholesale Banking.
While the Botín family dynasty has led Santander for four generations, the family holds less than 2% of direct equity shares. Their leadership is maintained through extraordinary shareholder trust, institutional investor support, and exceptional financial delivery.
The board consists of 15 members (over 65% independent directors), including Ana Botín, Héctor Grisi, Bruce Carnegie-Brown (Vice Chairman and Chairman of Lloyd's of London), Glenn Hutchins (co-founder of Silver Lake), and seasoned international financial leaders.
Ana Botín aims to establish Santander as the most profitable, digitally advanced transatlantic retail bank in the world, combining local community banking relationships with global cloud platforms to serve over 200 million customers.
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