Marcos Galperín fulfilled the dream of millions of Argentines and suffered the same as many others: to succeed with a personal venture that today has him as one of the most powerful and wealthy people in Argentina; but feeling that with his family he must live outside the country because of the way the criticism of his person took. He does not say so, but he settled in Uruguay where he can direct the growth of his company in Brazil where it is a success, like Colombia and also in Argentina.
The co-founder of Mercado Libre, just 48 years old, made headlines again in these hours when it was learned that the capital of the company that I believe exceeded, with its 50 billion dollars, the reserves that the Central Bank currently has (43 thousand millions of the American currency). It is nothing less than an Argentine multinational. Admired by many specialists and to whom a great future is predicted because to the online site for buying and selling products, the most visited in South America, I add a payment service called Mercado Pago.
The development of the company and the importance of the market to which it was dedicated generated resistance that was sometimes inexplicable. That is why in February of this year, a couple of months after the arrival of Alberto Fernández to the Government, Galpeín ceased to be the president of Mercado Libre in Argentina and Juan Martín de la Serna, who had already been in the position between 2004-2012. The decision, although he never said it, hid a political background that makes the question stronger.
The news of his departure was known ten days after prosecutor Guillermo Marijuan denounced him, along with other members of the board, for the alleged use of privileged information to dispose of Treasury Bills before a 2019 presidential decree postponed its expiration. . It was the drop that overflowed Galperin’s glass of patience.
The company rejected such accusations that fell – by lot – in the federal court under Sebastián Casanello. “The accusation aims to discredit the transparent actions of the company for more than 20 years in the country,” said the firm in defense.
In reality Galperín was already having problems with Kirchner leaders like Juan Grabois, who questioned the legitimacy of his fortune. “Maybe, someday, you will also think about working!”, He replied through Twitter after he classified him as a “prebendary winner with a dirty ass.”
In addition, Grabois questioned his decision to avoid selling contraband cell phones and stolen auto parts, “because while you profit from them, from the safety of your magnificent office, there are people who kill and others who die in these businesses.”
It is difficult for an entrepreneur like Galperín to receive such treatment in another country. Business numbers agreed on affirming themselves.
But without a doubt, trucker Hugo Moyano was his main enemy. For a long time, it has sought to keep the distribution and logistics of this unicorn (companies that invoice a billion dollars in its initial stage are called this way), which not only leads online sales in Argentina but also in several Latin American countries, among they Brazil and Colombia.
“After December, the Ministry of Labor will be asked to cancel the loading and unloading agreement, since the Macri government went with the company to pay lower wages, a terrible labor flexibility,” his son Pablo threatened last December. , owner of the Truckers Guild.
They were joined by Armando Cavallieri, boss of the mercantiles. In November of last year, after the victory of Fernández had been consummated, members of the Trade Union and Allied Employees and Workers Union Zona Oeste (SEOCA) suddenly appeared at the Mercado Libre Storage Center to demand an inspection of the working conditions of the employees located there.
Cavallieri wanted to achieve the affiliation of the employees who work there, but the workers of that Storage Center belong to the Union of Loading and Unloading Workers of the Argentine Republic.
The third leader of Kirchner descent who began to fly over the company was the bank Sergio Palazzo, who openly confronted the CEO of Mercado Libre to frame the 10,000 workers of the banking platforms. That silent bid for places of influence could have consequences for digital finance. Company executives, among other things, are concerned about the possibility that the head of the BCRA may advance in the regulation.
“We are convinced that the opportunities we have in Argentina are gigantic, and we compete with the best and largest companies in the world and that until now they have never lost,” he had highlighted years ago while opening his offices in Buenos Aires for the work of his company in all Latin America. It is difficult to ignore that it generated a company that has greater value than YPF according to the quotes of the New York Free Market Stock Exchange or the oil company. In our country, there is no record of such rapid growth and extension to Brazil, where leadership in these types of benefits is already disputed. But the helm of that ship will now be in Uruguay.
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