In an effort to flee the Castro dictatorship in that country, his family attempted to board a plane to Miami; however the border official stated that only Ralph's papers were in order.

[3] Once his parents arrived, de la Vega took an after-school job sweeping the floors of a garment factory to help support the family.

[4] De la Vega eventually enrolled in a pre-engineering curriculum at Miami Dade College, and worked part-time as a draftsman at an engineering firm.

[10] In this job he was in charge of the wireless subsidiaries in eleven countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

The CEOs of each company reported to de la Vega, who restructured the decision-making infrastructure of the group in order to create cooperative strategies and policies between the different firms.

[13] One of the main goals of de la Vega in this position is to develop AT&T's role in the Internet of Things and to deliver integrated services to business customers.

In 2009 de la Vega coauthored the book Obstacles Welcome: How to Turn Adversity to Advantage in Business and Life, with Paul Brown.

De la Vega decided to write the work due to the response he was receiving after the speeches he delivered at speaking engagements.

[20] De la Vega was selected Executive of the Year by the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting and has been listed as one of America's "50 Most Important Hispanics in Technology and Business."