Mediapro Co-Founder Jaume Roures Steps Back After 30 Years

Jesse Whittock
·3 min read
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The board of Mediapro has voted to have co-founder Jaume Roures step down as Managing Partner of the Spanish content giant, with Taxto Benet remaining in post as President and CEO.

According to a statement released a few moments ago, the company’s directors approved a request from majority shareholders for the “disassociation” of Roures, who is one of Spanish media’s biggest and most influential characters.

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Besides helping establish Mediapro as a major Spanish drama producer and distributor behind the likes of Movistar+ series The Head, Roures has been a key figure in the growth of Spain’s La Liga soccer league. He and Benet have pushed the division to grow its revenues from €150M ($158.5M) in the 2009-2010 season to over €700M in 2021-2022.

“The void that Jaume leaves in the group is immense, and from a personal standpoint, I will deeply miss these wonderful decades of working together, side by side, during which we collaborated to build Grup Mediapro and make it what it is,” said Benet. “But this wouldn’t have been possible without the people in the group, the best professionals in their respective areas. In this sense, Grup Mediapro will continue to be in very good hands.”

“The inspiration and legacy that Jaume leaves behind are an irreplaceable part of Grup Mediapro’s DNA and will always be present in this company’s work, reminding us that people come first, that we should never give up on our ideas and dreams, and that working as Jaume did, we will continue to achieve everything we pursue, no matter how challenging it seems, without fear being an obstacle to what talent and effort set as our goal.”

Benet said he and Mediapro’s management were “fully aligned with he group’s shareholder partners, Southward and WPP” and “wholeheartedly share the company’s future vision.”

“In this regard, there has not only been no disagreement about the future model, but there has also been no change in the foundational project or the values the group represents. And there won’t be any changes as long as this management team is here, because it’s this team that has implemented them for thirty years, and because our shareholders share our project and values, which were key when evaluating their investment in Mediapro. No one has changed them, and no one wants to change them.”

All other key staff, including President of The Mediapro Studio Laura Fernandez Espeso and General Director Juan Ruiz de Gauna remain in post.

Founded in Barcelona as a multmedia comms group in 1994, Mediapro now has more than 7,000 staff and bases around the world, including in the U.S. where Mediapro US operates. It has produced over 50 films, 60 series, around 100 documentaries and numerous entertainment programs, winning two Oscars along the way. Fernando Leon de Aranoa, Woody Allen, Isabel Coixet, Oliver Stone, Patricio Guzman, Manuel Huerga, Javier Fesser and Paolo Sorrentino are among the directors it has worked with.

“We are now celebrating 30 years of existence, and everyone, absolutely everyone — shareholders, the CEO, the management team, and all the people that make up the group are aligned and committed to experiencing another 30 years, at least, with the same success that we have had up to now,” said Benet.

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