Richard L. Carrión is the executive chairman of Popular, Inc., the parent company of Banco Popular de Puerto Rico and Popular Bank. Prior to assuming his current position in July 2017, he served as chairman and chief executive officer of Popular, Inc. for over 20 years. He is on the board of directors at Verizon Communications and Centro Financiero BHD and the supervisory board of NIBC Holding N.V. Carrión is currently a partner at J.C. Flowers & Co. He served as a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from 2008 to 2015.
While at the helm of Popular, Inc., Carrión led the way in bringing technology innovation to banking in Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and several countries in Latin America. Carrión's vision brought the first network of ATMs to Puerto Rico and many other Latin American countries. He also spearheaded the successful migration from paper to electronic transactions and the establishment of the largest data processing center in the Caribbean, a regional leader in information technology.
Philanthropy
For almost three decades Mr. Carrión has divided his time between Popular and philanthropy, placing particular emphasis on education and sports. He is the founder and trustee of the Banco Popular Foundation; which, among other charities, has donated scholarships to over 1,000 students through the Rafael Carrión, Jr. Scholarship Fund. He currently serves on the board of directors of Verizon. Since 1992, Carrión has also been involved in the production of music videos that highlight Puerto Rico's musical culture and history. In 2007, he was appointed a member of the International Basketball Federation Finance Commission. Mr. Carrión has also contributed to improving Puerto Rico's public education system. He participated in Sapientis Week, an initiative sponsored by the non-profit Sapientis which brings distinguished public figures into classrooms in order to raise the public's awareness of the education crisis in Puerto Rico.
He has been a member of the International Olympic Committee since 1990 and currently chairs the Finance Commission and is a member of the IOC's Marketing, TV and Internet Rights Commissions. Mr. Carrión led the negotiation team for the U.S. broadcast of the 2010 and 2012 Olympic Games – generating $2 billion in revenue – and was elected to the IOC executive board in 2004. He was one of the torch carriers for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. From 1987, he and the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee led a fight to try to bring the 2004 Summer Olympic Games to San Juan. That bid failed, however, when Athens was voted in 1997 as the city to host those games. In 2012, Carrión awarded Javier Culson with the bronze medal for the 400 m hurdles and Jaime Espinal with the silver medal for wrestling freestyle 84 kg at the 2012 Olympics. Culson and Espinal were the first Puerto Ricans to win Olympic medals outside of boxing.
2013 Candidacy for IOC President
On May 22, 2013, Carrión confirmed that he would run for president of the IOC. At the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires, Carrión secured 29 votes in the final round of voting, but lost the election to Thomas Bach.
Personal life
Carrión is currently married to Isabella Heseltine. He was previously married to Conxita Viñamata Martorell, with whom he had a son, Rafael Luis. Carrión has 4 children from his first marriage, Io Ana, Richard, Ceciliana and Ana Sofía. Carrión is the cousin of Puerto Rican actress and radio talk show hostCamille Carrión.
