Manuel Lao Hernández Net Worth & Biography

Manuel Lao Hernández Net Worth & Biography

This is the story of Manuel Lao, a living legend who is considered to be the symbol of the wealth in Matadepera, a town in Barcelona that has the highest ‘per capita’ income in the European country of Spain. The Spanish billionaire business magnate started from a very poor background. He grew up herding sheep but that wasn’t going to be the end of him as fate had a different story to write him. From a modest beginning, Manuel found his way up in life and eventually founded Cirsa, a company that later turned out prosperous to the extent that it became the largest casino business in the country. Follow us as we use this article to dissect and discuss the life and life journey of one of the richest Spanish persons on the planet.

Early Life: Childhood, Education

Cirsa founder Manuel Lao Hernández was born in Almeria, Spain, in 1944. Very little is known about his childhood, and we have no records regarding his education or academic qualifications.

Professional Life: Early Years, Businesses

When he was a child, Manuel herded livestock belonging to his family in Doña María, one of the three hubs of the municipality of Tres Castillos (Almería). When he was 12 years old, he met a friend with whom he moved to Terrassa (Catalonia) to search for and seize a better future.

And he got it.

Last year, the businessman was listed by Forbes magazine as one of the ten richest Spaniards alive, with an estimated net worth of over 2 million dollars. But getting to the peak of success took a lot of hard work, sacrifices, intuition, vision for the future, focus, among many other attributes.

In the earliest years of his life, Manuel herded sheep, sold windmills, and served as an altar boy to make ends meet. However, he moved to Catalonia and worked his way through many obstacles to the point that he invited his parents and brother Juan to join him several years later.

After arriving in Catalonia at the tender age of 12, Manuel worked as hard as his body and age would let him. He helped his parents at their bar, handed out candies at the movies, worked at the AEG factory, looked for bricks in landfills and resold them, served cakes at home, and did several small jobs.

At that time, there were no regulations on gambling In Spain, hence the existence of clandestine casinos. At Manuel’s family’s bar, they had tickets that they had won in a kind of raffle cash.

In 1978, when gambling was decriminalized in the country, Manuel realized that slot machines could play an important role in solving the economic problems faced in the part of the country. He gathered a small amount he had saved up and purchased the first slot machines that arrived in Spain. Shortly afterward, with the help of Japanese engineers, he developed his own, and thus, CIRSA (Compañía Internacional de Recreativos) was born.

Manuel’s Cirsa became the largest casino business in Spain. It is considered to be one of the most recognized leisure conglomerates around the world with a presence in 9 countries, including Morocco in Africa, Italy and Spain in Europe, and Costa Rica, Argentina, and Mexico in South America. Its over 32,984 arcade machines are available in more than 16,000 establishments, with a record of over 25,000  clients who place one million bets weekly on the “Sportium”, a sports gaming network. In addition, it has 37 bingo halls that have extracted over 164 million balls, 242 gambling halls with more than 3 million annual visits, 5 casinos, 12 bars, several restaurants and, so on.

In 2018 Manuel Lao decided to turn his life around and pursue other opportunities. He sold Cirsa to the American private equity firm Blackstone Investment Fund. According to a report published by Forbes at the time, Blackstone valued Manuel’s slot machine empire at 2,235 million euros.

Personal Life: Family, Children, Residence

The founder of Cirsa is married, with three children. He has lived in Matadepera, Spain for many years. His house is located a short distance away from the home of former Barça player and Spain international Xavi Hernández. Thanks to Mr. Lao and other millionaires in Matadeptera, the town is currently the richest urban center in the country.

When Manuel needs authentic peace and quietness, he only has to find his way to his huge El Molinillo farm that produces olive oil on its 4,000 hectares.

Manuel Lao Hernandez Net Worth: Salary, Income Sources, Assets

The Spanish businessman and entrepreneur, Manuel Lao Hernandez, has a net worth of $2.5 billion according to our findings. His source of wealth? Not complex at all. He made all his money and entered the billionaire circles thanks to Cirsa, which is a popular largest casino corporation in Spain and many counties of the world. What was set up as a small gaming company in 1978 now operates in several countries in Latin America and Europe. According to 2013 estimates, a year before Hernandez became a billionaire, his Cirsa company grossed revenue of more than $2.5 billion (1.8 billion euros). The empire, which was once 100% owned by Mr. Manuel Lao Hernandez, also holds interests in hotels, amusement arcades, and casinos around the globe.