Héctor Horacio Magnetto (born July 9, 1944) is an Argentine CEO of Grupo Clarín, the largest media company in Argentina.
Magnetto was born in Chivilcoy in 1944 and enrolled at the University of La Plata, where he earned a degree in accounting with high honors. On March 2, 1972, he was hired as an advisor to Ernestina Herrera de Noble, the owner of Clarín, the newspaper with the highest circulation in Latin America. On Frigerio’s recommendation, Mrs. Noble brought in Magnetto, who later took over the newspaper’s finances.
The young accountant convinced Mrs. Noble to dispose of superfluous assets, such as a company helicopter, and to initiate negotiations with the Mitre, Paz, and Peralta Ramos families (owners of La Nación, La Prensa, and La Razón, respectively) to participate in a government-sponsored initiative to establish a domestic newsprint manufacturer. The plan, which aimed to reduce costs by eliminating the need to import newsprint, ultimately led to the takeover of the Papel Prensa facility in 1978.
Magnetto served as CEO of Papel Prensa, alternating with the director of La Nación, in the years that followed. He later became president and CEO. The group suffered heavy losses during the 1999–2002 economic crisis, and a bill passed in July 2003 helped stabilize its finances.
The company recovered alongside the Argentine economy in the following years, and by 2006 it had acquired Cablevisión, the main competitor of its cable unit Multicanal. Magnetto, however, faced worsening health problems, including a diagnosis of esophageal cancer in early 2007, which for a time led to speculation about his continuation as CEO of Grupo Clarín and a possible dispute over his 30% stake in the company. Magnetto responded well to treatment and subsequently underwent speech therapy.