The billionaire who helped build the Grupo Modelo group, which produces Corona Extra beer, has left nearly 200 million euro to the 80 residents of the northern village of Cerezales del Condado, where he was born in 1917.
Antonino Fernández died a billionaire aged 99 in August. Under his will, the village will also get a brand new cultural centre, and a local non-profit foundation with 300 employees getting a donation, with each villager inheriting over two million euro.
One of 13 children living in Cerezales del Condado, he was forced to quit school at the age of 14 because his parents could not afford the fees. Despite immigrating to Mexico in 1949, he never forgot his roots, and after marrying his wife Cinia González Díez in the town of León, the couple moved to Mexico where they began working for her uncle’s company, Grupo Modelo. By 1971 he was CEO of the company, turning Corona into an export phenomenon.
Fernández was honoured by the former King of Spain, Juan Carlos, for his philanthropic work. One of his companies, Soltra, offers employment to people with disabilities in León province.
