JORGE VERGARA MADRIGAL

Entrepreneur and CEO, Grupo Omnilife

Jorge Vergara Madrigal founded leading Mexican nutritional products firm Omnilife de Mexico in 1991 with $10,000 he borrowed. Now his firm is called Grupo Omnilife and is ranked among Mexico’s top 200 companies. Grupo Omnilife recently formed a strategic partnership with MPowerlabs in the U.S. in a plan to reach 4.5 million distributors throughout the world. Mr. Vergara, a former restaurateur, became involved with nutritional products in 1986 when he worked with a U.S. company and traveled the world as a leading distributor. After his proposal to offer nutritional products in liquid and powder form was rejected by the U.S. firm, Mr. Vergara created Omnilife. Soon his visionary approach to marketing his product propelled Omnilife to explosive success. Omnilife now offers 70 natural dietary supplements custom tailored to address Latin American lifestyles. Mr. Vergara’s entrepreneurial spirit has fueled a variety of other for-profit and not-for-profit projects. He operates his own music label and magazines, and the films made through his movie company have led Variety magazine to name him among the top 10 film producers in 2002. Meanwhile, his philanthropic contributions include his sponsorship of arts awards, and his founding of the Foundation for the Children of the World (FPNP) which helps disadvantaged children achieve good nutrition. A sports enthusiast, he is also owner of the Guadalajara Chivas soccer team and holds an interest in Costa Rica’s Deportivo Saprissa soccer club.