About

Joaquin Balcarcel joined Grupo Televisa, the largest media company in the Spanish-speaking world with a revenue of $5.3bn, in 1999 as a corporate legal director working predominantly on M&A negotiations. After five years in the corporate role at Televisa, Balcarcel was appointed general counsel of the group’s television division in 2004, but after only two years was promoted again to his current position as vice president legal and general counsel of the entire group. He has been able to utilise the team of 110 people, most of whom are lawyers, to support the company through a time of regulatory change. According to one source, ‘Joaquin successfully steered Televisa’s migration into the new regulatory regime applicable to broadcaster and telecommunications carriers’. In the last 18 months, Balcarcel has overseen the successful sale of Televisa’s 50% stake in wireless carrier Iusacell to Salinas for $717m, as well as making several acquisitions in the cable sector. With Televisa being a highly regulated company, Balcarcel is recognised for his achievements ‘while adjusting and complying with the asymmetric regulations applicable to Televisa as preponderant agent under the new rules’.