His higher education focused on Economics and he specialized in Business Management and Marketing, although he never obtained a degree.

In 1986, he gained practical work experience in a number of financial businesses in Paris, where he lived as a bachelor and during the early years of his marriage.

After a number of years working in the international financial markets sector, in January 1998 he was appointed Managing Director's Senior Advisor for Crédit Suisse First Boston in Madrid.

In 1987, Jaime de Marichalar met his future wife, Infanta Elena of Spain, while she was studying French literature in Paris and he was working there.

[12] On March 18, 1995, he married the Infanta Elena de Borbón, eldest daughter of King Juan Carlos I of Spain, in the Cathedral of Seville.