José Ignacio Sánchez Galán

Galán's career got under way in 1972 at Sociedad Española del Acumulador Tudor, where he held various executive posts and oversaw the company's international expansion.

Initially it was a consortium supported by Rolls-Royce and SENER (a private Spanish engineering and technology group).

Galán left Airtel 2001 after securing its sale to Vodafone for 24,000 million euros, multiplying the initial investment of its founders by 31.

In October 2020, the Financial Times[17] described Ignacio Galán as "the engineer" who has transformed what was a second-tier Spanish company into the world's third-largest utility since he took the helm in 2001, transforming it from a primarily domestic company with coal, hydroelectric and oil-fired plants into a leader in clean energy, as well as an owner of electricity grids.

Its acquisitions in countries such as Brazil, Mexico, the UK and the US have made the group the third largest utility in the world by market value.

The aim was to provide new capacity for renewable energy, battery storage, green hydrogen projects, and investment in transmission networks.

[20] The case analyzes its strategy, such as its role in green hydrogen, based on the position taken by the group in renewables, grids and storage.

Galán is also a member of the European Round Table of Industrialists (ERT)[26] and the group representing Europe's leading electric companies.

He is also a member of GlobalScot,[27] an international Scottish government network of the business leaders who are most keenly committed to the economic development of Scotland.

He was also named “Best CEO of the Year” in 2006 at the Platts Global Energy Awards.7 In 2008, he was crowned “Business Leader of the Year” by the Spain-U.S. Chamber of Commerce8 and that same year he also received the “International Economy Award” from the Cristóbal Gabarrón Foundation.9 José Ignacio Galán has also been named Council of Bilbao by the Bilbao Chamber of Commerce and obtained the 2009 Gold Medal from the province of Salamanca.10 In 2011, he was handed the Lagun Onari award by the Basque Government, which is given to prominent non-Basque individuals in recognition of their efforts to promote Basque history and culture and improve the region's economy.11 In 2014, he received the FIRST Award for Responsible Capitalism and that very same year, Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom bestowed on him the honorary title of Commander of the Order of the British Empire.12 That same year he was awarded the honorary decoration of Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (Civil Division) for his work on behalf of the British energy sector and UK-Spain trade and investment relations.

[33] In 2016, Galán received his tenth Best Chief Executive Officer award in European electric utilities, which is issued by the Institutional Investor Research Group.13 14 In 2017, the Institutional Investor Research Group named him, for the eleventh time, Best Chief Executive of European electric utilities.

In 2011 he was named best CEO of European utilities and Spanish listed companies in investor relations, according to the Thomson Extel Survey.

This award honours the career of Ignacio Galán, an engineer and prominent manager who has been leading companies in industrial and technological sectors (such as telecommunications, aeronautics and energy) in which he has profoundly changed their profile, reflecting his vision of the future and his ability to anticipate the new needs of society.

Galán highlighted Iberdrola's ongoing commitment to ESG principles, emphasizing the compatibility of decarbonization and value creation.

11 El Gobierno vasco concede la distinción Lagun Onari a Ignacio Galán, B.O.P.V., 18/10/2011.

12 “Galán, condecorado como Comendador Honorario de la Orden del Imperio Británico”, europapress.es.