José María Sierra

There he founded several companies such as 'La Cuarta Compañía', dedicated to raising cattle and planting extensive cane fields to supply molasses to his brandy factories, already prosperous throughout the department.

He had his daughter Clara Sierra Cadavid married to a son of former Colombian President Rafael Reyes Prieto, which led to frequent visits to the San Carlos Palace.

The then president, Rafael Núñez tried to solve public finances through the reactivation of auctions and state monopolies, abundant issuance of forced currency paper and the placement of bonds and payrolls in the market.

These were generally very solvent, since economic guarantees (mortgages, sureties, anticipated monetary deposits) were required of them in exchange for the privilege of enjoying the secure profits produced by such monopolies.

José María Sierra quickly became the strongest auctioneer and lender nationwide, based on a simple business administrative system, but with an intricate network of agents spread throughout the country, in charge of negotiating the allocation of rents.

[7] In the biography about his grandfather, the writer Bernardo Jaramillo affirmed that his relative's businesses would be seen today as irregular, although it was the weak Colombian economic system that left the State in the hands of lenders as the only way to guarantee their functioning.