Horst Paulmann is a German-born Chilean businessman, born on March 22, 1935, in Kassel, Germany. He is best known as the founder and longtime CEO of Cencosud, one of the largest retail conglomerates in Latin America. With a career that spans over seven decades, Paulmann turned a small family-owned store into an empire of supermarkets, department stores, shopping centers, and financial services operating in six countries. Today, Cencosud is considered the third-largest retail group in the region.
Postwar migration and the family’s retail beginnings
After World War II, the Paulmann family fled Germany, passing through Italy and Argentina before finally settling in Chile. It was there that the family, leveraging their European entrepreneurial heritage, opened a small grocery store during the 1950s. This store marked the beginning of what would evolve into a continental business operation.
Following the death of Horst’s father, he and his siblings took over the family business. Each pursued their own paths within retail, experimenting with store formats and branding. By the 1960s, Horst had developed a chain of hypermarkets—large-scale stores that were new to the Chilean market. These ventures expanded quickly across Chile, positioning the family as a significant force in the country’s evolving retail landscape.
The launch of Jumbo became a turning point. The hypermarket model, introduced in downtown Santiago, was a commercial success and eventually expanded into Argentina. Later, the brand Easy followed, specializing in home improvement and operating in both Chile and neighboring countries.
Cencosud: A pan-regional expansion
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Paulmann diversified beyond retail stores into shopping centers. He developed Alto Las Condes, one of Chile’s most prominent malls, setting a precedent for modern commercial infrastructure in the country.
Over the next two decades, Cencosud expanded aggressively. By the early 2000s, the company had acquired several regional retail brands and chains, integrating them under the Cencosud umbrella. The business model included supermarkets, hypermarkets, department stores, home improvement chains, and shopping malls, with operations extending into Colombia, Peru, Brazil, and Argentina.
Cencosud’s international reach was driven by a strategy of local adaptation combined with centralized management, allowing the company to enter new markets while maintaining operational efficiencies. By 2005, the firm had amassed dozens of locations across South America, while Paulmann’s brother managed a similar number of outlets independently.
Financial innovation and global recognition
The 2010s marked a new phase in Cencosud’s development. In 2012, the company launched Banco Cencosud in Peru, entering the financial services market and offering proprietary credit cards. This strategic move added a new revenue stream to the conglomerate and increased brand loyalty among customers.
That same year, Horst Paulmann was named “Businessman of the Year” by Diario Financiero, a leading Chilean business publication. Cencosud also began trading on the New York Stock Exchange, cementing its status as a global corporation. The company had already been publicly listed in Chile.
As of the 2010s, Cencosud was one of the top three retailers in Latin America. Approximately 40% of its income derived from operations in Chile, followed by Argentina—through its Jumbo and Easy brands—and Brazil. The company employed over 140,000 people across its multiple subsidiaries.
Leadership transition and legacy
Due to health concerns in recent years, Paulmann gradually transferred leadership responsibilities to his children. Two years ago, his daughter officially assumed the role of Chairwoman of the Board, continuing the family legacy. Despite stepping back from day-to-day operations, Horst remains a central figure in Chile’s business history.
In 2018, Forbes ranked Horst Paulmann as the second-richest person in Chile and placed him at number 422 on the global billionaire list. His success story, beginning with a single store and expanding into a multinational empire, illustrates a unique journey of resilience, vision, and transformation.
Cencosud today operates in six countries and manages dozens of malls, hypermarkets, financial services, and retail chains. Paulmann’s journey from postwar displacement to becoming one of Latin America’s most prominent entrepreneurs remains a reference point for business leadership in the region.