Adalbert Krieger Vasena was the grandson of Pietro Vassena, an Italian blacksmith and entrepreneur immigrated in Argentina in the second half of the 19th century.
In the first decade of the 20th century, the Vasena family was the head of the largest steel company in Argentina.
His father, Suleyman Krieger, was a Turkish Jew born in Jerusalem who developed a successful career as a banker in Argentina.
He decreed a wage freeze and a 40% devaluation, which weakened the economy – in particular the agricultural sector – and favored foreign capital.
Vasena suspended collective labour conventions, reformed the "hydrocarbons law" which had established a partial monopoly of the Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales (YPF) state firm, and passed a law facilitating the eviction of tenants over their non-payment of domestic rent.