Michel Goguikian

Michel J. Goguikian (Beirut, Lebanon) is a Lebanese-Venezuelan-Spanish banker, investor, and philanthropist.[1] He served as president of Banco de Venezuela from 1996 to 2009[2][3] and promoted the founding of Universia in Venezuela in 2001. He is chairman and majority shareholder of Bancrecer, a Venezuelan microfinance bank, founder of SquareOne Capital, a United States-based venture capital firm, and a board member of Fintonic, a leading Spanish digital fintech company.[4][5][6][7][8]

Early life and education

Michel Goguikian was born in Lebanon into a diplomatic family. His father, Ambassador Jean Goguikian, Lebanon's first ambassador of Armenian origin,[9][10] held several diplomatic posts, including at the United Nations where he participated, among others, in the first International Symposium on Industrial Development held in Athena in 1967.[11][12] Michel earned an M.B.A. from the University of Texas in 1981.[13][14] He has attended finance and management programs for senior executives at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School, and at the Harvard Business School.[14]

Career

Citibank

Goguikian began his career with Citibank in the Middle East. In the 1980s, he moved to the Investment Banking division in New York, where he led the asset-backed structured finance unit, contributing to Latin American debt recovery strategies after the regional debt crisis.[15][16][17]

Santander Group

In the 1990s, he joined the Santander Group, overseeing investment banking in South America. He was involved in the group's expansion across Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, and Peru.[18][19][20][21]

Banco de Venezuela

Goguikian was involved in Santander's acquisition of Banco de Venezuela in 1996[22] and served as its chairman and CEO until 2009.[23] He oversaw its sale to the Venezuelan government, the country's largest banking M&A transaction. In 2000, he also led the acquisition and merger of Banco Caracas.[24][25][26][27][28]

Banco Santander Colombia

He later served as Chairman of Banco Santander Colombia, managing its sale in 2011 to the Chilean Group CorpBanca.[29][14]

Bancrecer and Republic International Bank

Since 2009, he is the controlling shareholder of Bancrecer,[30] a microfinance bank in Venezuela. He also chaired Republic International Bank (Curaçao) until its divestiture in May 2025.[5][31][32][33]

Venture Capital

In 2018, Goguikian founded SquareOne Capital,[34] a venture capital firm with investments in Robinhood,[35] Coinbase,[36] Stripe,[37] xAI, and Anthropic, among others. In 2023, SquareOne Capital, through its European subsidiary, acquired a majority stake in Fintonic, a free financial management application that centralizes and analyzes personal finances and facilitates access to financial products. In 2024, Goguikian negotiated the sale of Ninety Nine Corporation.[37][38][39][40][41][42]

Personal life

In 2001, he spearheaded the founding of Universia Venezuela in 2001, an institution that, under the patronage of Grupo Santander, brings together and promotes a collaborative network between students, universities, and private companies to offer educational and employment opportunities in the country where it operates.[43][44][45][46][47][48][49]

In 2008, he created the Goguikian Foundation, in honour of his father. This non-political, philanthropic, and non-profit organisation fosters the academic and professional growth of young Lebanese and Armenians through scholarships and job training. It also promotes doctoral research through the GTALKS outreach platform and recognises excellence in Arabic among young Lebanese and Armenian high school students with the annual Al Bayan Award.[50] It established the Jean Goguikian Fund with several Lebanese universities to support Armenian-descent students. After the 2020 Beirut explosion, the foundation led a matched fundraising campaign to support affected hospitals and NGOs. Its current focus includes tech education and employment initiatives in Latin America.[51]

Arts and cultural leadership

Goguikian was a member of the board of directors of El Museo del Barrio in New York and is a member of the board of directors of the Friends of the Reina Sofía Museum Foundation in Madrid.[52][53]

References

  1. ↑ ARTEINFORMADO (11 December 2020). "Michel Goguikian. Coleccionista | ARTEINFORMADO". ARTEINFORMADO (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2025-12-30. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  2. ↑ elEconomista.es. "El Gobierno venezolano formaliza la compra de Banco de Venezuela". elEconomista.es (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2023-09-07. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  3. ↑ "BBC Mundo - América Latina - Venezuela: el Estado es el "gran banco"". www.bbc.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  4. ↑ "« La langue arabe, sésame des Libanais arméniens dans la fonction publique »". L'Orient-Le Jour (in French). 2015-04-24. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  5. 1 2 "Mr. Michel J. Goguikian". The Goguikian Foundation. 2018-04-23. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  6. ↑ "Publication of the Armenian Missionary Association of America. XLV No. 3" (PDF). AMAA News. July 2011.
  7. ↑ Ministries, Global (2014-10-11). "Haigazian University Celebrates 51st Commencement Exercises". Global Ministries. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  8. ↑ Ayoub, Karine (2018-03-14). "The Goguikian Foundation Celebrates 4th ranking among more than 800 applicants Shant Vartanian, the third Lebanese Armenian to join the diplomatic corps since 1945!". Executive Bulletin. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  9. ↑ "Ambassador Jean Goguikian". The Goguikian Foundation. 2014-05-09. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  10. ↑ "Daleel Madani".
  11. ↑ "REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT" (PDF).
  12. ↑ "United Nations Digital Library". digitallibrary.un.org. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  13. ↑ "Arte Informado. Espacio Iberoamericano de Arte". 11 December 2020.
  14. 1 2 3 "51st Commencement Exercises" (PDF). Haigazian University. 1 July 2011.
  15. ↑ United States: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (1997-01-01). "Chapter 5: The LDC Debt Crisis". Documents.
  16. ↑ "Abstract | The Business History Conference". thebhc.org. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  17. ↑ Romero, Jocelyn Sims and Jessie. "Latin American Debt Crisis of the 1980s". www.federalreservehistory.org. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  18. ↑ Vogel, Thomas T. (20 December 1996). "After Crisis, Foreigners Invest In Some Big Venezuelan Banks - WSJ». Wall Street Journal".
  19. ↑ Vogel, Thomas T.; Journal, Carlta VitzthumStaff Reporters of The Wall Street (1996-12-20). "After Crisis, Foreigners Invest In Some Big Venezuelan Banks - WSJ". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  20. ↑ S.A, Web Financial Group. "Ninety Nine, el Robinhood español, debuta en verano con dos ex Santander en su consejo". Fundsnews.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  21. ↑ "Conquering the market: The expansion strategies of Santander and BBVA in Latin America". EABH Papers (18–02). Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  22. ↑ "Merger creates Venezuela's largest bank - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  23. ↑ "GRUPO SANTANDER TIENE AHORA LA MAYOR ISNTITUCIÓN FINANCIERA DE VENEZUELA". Informativos.Net (in Spanish). 2002-05-17. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  24. ↑ "51st Commencement Exercises - President's Word". www.elcolombiano.com.
  25. ↑ "Banco Santander Central Hispano acuerda la compra del Banco Caracas, creando el primer grupo financiero de Venezuela". 6 October 2000.
  26. ↑ "Asociación Bancaria de Venezuela". asobanca.prowebglobal.com. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  27. ↑ "El Santander vende su filial venezolana a Chávez por 750 millones". El País (in Spanish). 2009-05-22. ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  28. ↑ Vogel, Thomas T. (9 October 1997). "Street Journal. Reforms in Latin America Draw Attention From Lenders - WSJ. Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660".
  29. ↑ "Información Relevante". Principales decisiones asamblea general ordinaria de accionistas del Banco Santander Colombia S.A. 30 March 2012.
  30. ↑ Analítica (2015-08-04). "Junta Directiva de Bancrecer realizó gira ejecutiva regional". Analitica.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-06.
  31. ↑ "Quiénes Somos". Bancrecer (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  32. ↑ "Directorio Financiero". Finanzas Digital (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  33. ↑ Runrun.es, Redacción (2015-03-25). "Las 10 noticias económicas más importantes de hoy 25 de marzo". Runrun.es: En defensa de tus derechos humanos (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-06.
  34. ↑ "SquareOne Capital | Venture Investment for Technology and Innovation". squareonecap.com. Retrieved 2026-02-06.
  35. ↑ "SquareOne Capital - aVenture Asset Manager Research". aVenture. Retrieved 2026-02-06.
  36. ↑ "SquareOne Capital | Perfil Startuplinks". startuplinks.world. Retrieved 2026-02-06.
  37. 1 2 "Square One Capital - 2026 Investor Profile, Portfolio, Team & Investment Trends - Tracxn". tracxn.com. 2026-01-08. Retrieved 2026-02-06.
  38. ↑ Lejarriaga, Bruno (2023-06-20). "Fintonic cierra una ronda de €5M liderada por SquareOne Capital e ING. Salen los CEO de la compañía". Webcapitalriesgo (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-06.
  39. ↑ Millán, Santiago (2025-03-27). "Fintonic cierra su reestructuración y ficha como CEO al ex jefe de seguros del Santander para su nueva etapa". Cinco Días (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-06.
  40. ↑ EP, Forbes / (2023-06-14). "ING y el fondo SquareOne sustituyen en la dirección de Fintonic a los fundadores de la compañía". Forbes España (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-06.
  41. ↑ Agencias (2025-03-27). "Fintonic nombra consejero delegado a Armando Baquero, exresponsable global de Seguros de Santander". Confidencial Digital (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-06.
  42. ↑ CarlosAF (2025-03-27). "Fintonic inicia una nueva era bajo el liderazgo de Armando Baquero como CEO". El Asesor Financiero (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-06.
  43. ↑ Press, Europa (2010-07-15). "Universia cumple 10 años con 1.169 universidades de 23 países de habla hispana y portuguesa". www.europapress.es. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  44. ↑ Redaccion (2010-07-17). "Universia cumple 10 años". RRHH Digital (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  45. ↑ "Universia se convierte en la mayor red universitaria del mundo | Consumer" (in European Spanish). 2006-09-18. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  46. ↑ "Universia Venezuela Servicios Comerciales". www.slideshare.net (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-06.
  47. ↑ Yumpu.com. "Universia Memoria 2001 - Encuentro Internacional de Rectores de ..." yumpu.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2026-02-06.
  48. ↑ "Estudiantes de diez países tendrán más fácil el acceso a la información universitaria". abc (in Spanish). 2001-12-04. Retrieved 2026-02-06.
  49. ↑ universia.edu.ve. "Universia Venezuela. Portal de las Universidades venezolanas". www.universia.edu.ve (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2018-03-13. Retrieved 2026-02-06.
  50. ↑ gtalks world (2019-04-30). GTALKS - PhD Candidate. Retrieved 2026-02-05 – via YouTube.
  51. ↑ "The Goguikian Foundation". The Goguikian Foundation. 2019-12-23. Retrieved 2026-02-05.
  52. ↑ "Patronato". www.amigosmuseoreinasofia.org.
  53. ↑ "ArteInformado. Espacio Iberoamericano de Arte. Michel Goguikian Coleccionista".
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