Our story begins in the 1800s in Sonson, Antioquia, Colombia. Located about three hours from the State Capital, Medellin, Sonson has always been an agricultural town and more specifically, a coffee-growing region. You have sugar cane, corn, cattle, and nowadays the most significant production of avocados in Colombia, but it is still a mountainous region perfect in altitude and other conditions for coffee. Our grandparents on our mother’s side, Alejandro and Alicia Botero, came from Sonson, and our grandparents on our father’s side Felipe and Lucila Botero, also came from Sonson. The Botero bloodline traces back to Italian immigrants that landed in Sonson in the 1700s.
Four of us were born in New York City when our dad was studying at Hofstra University in Nassau County as part of an award he received from then Colombian PresidentGeneral Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, after receiving the Medalla de Boyaca (medal of honor for the Colombian military). The youngest, Carlos Botero was born in Bogota. As children, Sonson was a dream place. It was grandpa’s town as far as we were concerned. To this day, I have a blurry memory of the largest house on the town square with the horse stable on the ground floor. How cool is that a three-story square house with a stable on the ground floor so one could see the horses – really cool, we thought. But the fact was that those horses were essential transportation. To us as kids, all of this was there for our entertainment when it was all there for precise reasons and to get things done.
The memories of vacations with grandpa, our brothers, and sister, and our cousins at La Rosina and his other properties remain vivid. Cattle, coffee, sugar cane, guns, and long horse commutes on steep mountains were the perfect formula for summer vacations and every other opportunity. Unfortunately, Sonson is a long way from Bogota, and flying to Medellin and commuting from there was not always an option, so vacations were far and few between. All the same, the memories are indelible, and it was our introduction to horses.
In 1965 after our dad, Captain Hector Botero Tobon was killed in a car accident, our mom packed her kids and bags and started the migration to the United States. In what now seems like two days after landing at La Guardia airport, I started my first job; little did I know that I would spend most of my career and make my fortune in much the same profession. I was a newspaper boy delivering the Long Island Press on my bicycle in Queens, New York. I was in news distribution at 12 years old.
We discovered horse racing right around 1970 when we found part-time work at Belmont Park. I, Felipe, and Edwin started “walking hots” which is cooling horses off after workouts by walking them around in circles in the barns. The work is hard starting at 6:00 am seven days a week, rain or shine, or as far as New York is concerned, rain, shine, snow, sleet and freezing temperatures. Belmont is two bus rides from our house, and bus service at those hours was irregular at best, so it was out the door by 4:00 am in Jamaica, Queens.
No matter what, we were pretty typical Botero kids, and we thought it was great, it paid some $20 per day, and with time we could move up to being a groom, which had a lot more responsibility and a few more dollars. The perks were getting into the racetrack for free, spending the month of August at Saratoga in upstate New York, working with champions, and working for the DuPont’s andFirestones. Our brother Edwin worked for Leroy Jolly who trained Foolish Pleasure, and horses like Secretariat and other champs were always walking around. In 1973 we all had a front-row seat to watch Secretariat win the triple crown and when Foolish Pleasure won the Kentucky Derby in LexingtonEdwin was in the winner’s circle, and Leroy Jolly put the mantle of roses around his shoulders. But at the end of the day, it is a tough place to build a career, much less climb the ladder to horse ownership.
And so now that we all find ourselves in our 50’s and 60’s with time on our hands, we have decided to build a family racing stable. Back in 1970, if you asked us where we were going, we probably had no answer, so if your question is where are you going with this, the answer is we have no idea except to have some fun and do something as a family. And on top of that, family is our mother whom we love and respect; we always have and always will. She is the reason for our success, our character, morals, and values. She started from scratch with five kids in the mid-1960’s in a foreign land with very basic English and no business skills, just a lot of heart.
And they’re off……………
Our Mom: Alicia Botero Restrepo
Alicia Botero Restrepo was a Latin American aviation pioneer from Colombia. In 1947-48, when women were still not permitted to fly with the Colombian military, she convinced the air force to let her train with them in an unofficial capacity. She was 16 years old. She learned to fly on a Stearman PT-13 at the Madrid air base and the Germán Olano Air Base in Palanquero, where she soloed. Her flying career was cut short, however, when new leadership ended her training. After being widowed in 1965, she moved with her children to the United States, where she became a U.S. citizen. She worked for decades at Kennedy Airport for KLM customer service while raising five children as a single mother.
Mr. Hector Botero
Mr. Hector Botero has spent the last two decades building, acquiring, and merging media, news, and technology companies on a global scale. In 1996 Mr. Botero launched International Media Services (IMS) that went on to become a leader in media research, media monitoring, and news distribution covering the Latin America region from Mexico, Central and South America. In 2000, Mr. Botero expanded the scope of IMS to include the Asia Pacific region and Europe. IMS went on to partner with Business Wire and launch Business Wire Latin America and Business Wire China. Business Wire was acquired by Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway in 2006.
In 2008 Mr. Botero sold IMS to OMERS Private Equity, a Canadian private equity fund with more than $6 billion under management, and Marketwired. In 2016, NASDAQ acquired Marketwired. In 2016 Mr. Botero launched iCrowdNewswire (iCrowd) and ContentEngine (CE). Since launching both iCrowd and CE have become leaders in their industry. Mr. Botero’s latest venture is a partnership with LexisNexis launching Nexis Newswire. Lexis Nexis is a subsidiary of Relx, a global news, information, and analytics conglomerate with over 33,000 employees in 40 countries generating revenue over US$7 billion annually.
Mr. Felipe Botero
Mr. Felipe Botero spent the last three decades in various roles at MetLife. Responsible for Life Insurance and Annuity Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) relationship with several Insurance carriers, supporting several hundred thousand policy holders, and a diverse distribution network including major wire houses. Conducted regular client briefings and planning sessions to develop client’s business strategy and implementation plans. Coordinated the design and implementation of business technology and operational solutions, including: launched a new web platform for annuity customers and distributors self-service, enabled several major distributors to sell annuity products including electronic application submission and commission processing capabilities, and implemented several new Fixed and Variable Annuities products.
Reporting to the CEO, developed several retirement products and marketing programs that achieved $1 billion in annual sales within 5 years. Led the IT integration of large acquisition across Latin America and the Caribbean, involving operations in 22 countries and over 10,000 associates. Managed the divestiture of MetLife Bank including elimination of 6,000 positions and 4 separate M&A transactions. Led the global implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Control Act (FATCA) regulations across 46 countries, incorporating over 300 legal entities. Implemented a data matching program with the Social Security Death Master File for identification and prompt payment of life insurance claims, which paid out over $750 million.
Mr. Edwin Botero
Mr. Edwin Botero has for the past 8 years served as president of the largest US based importer of Mexican beef, representing sales of $800M annually. Prior to that I served 13 years as VP of Exports to Latin America for the US division of JBS S.A., the largest meat producer in the world.
Before coming into the beef business, I worked as SVP of Global Sourcing for Tone’s Spices, the second largest spice company in the world. Prior to that I worked for 11 years as Senior Trader for some of the largest coffee companies, including Cargill, Volkart Bros. and Sprague & Rhodes.
Ms. Alicia Botero
Ms. Alicia Botero Speight is a Managing Director and Market Leader with Willis Towers Watson with more than 35 years’ experience in Brokerage, Risk Management, and Underwriting, She possess the knowledge, expertise, and ability to provide a well-rounded set of services for her clients and management and mentoring for her staff. This philosophy has been at the center of her career trajectory and has yielded long-lasting relationships over time and across employers.
Her leadership style is directed by a passionate conviction in mentoring others, developing skill sets that not only help individuals accomplish personal goals but contributing to a team environment that drives companies ever forward. Alicia is known as a real “people-person,” valuing compassion and positive communication channels. This is integral to creative problem-solving, allowing for a fluid and progressive approach to business. She is also passionate about building an inclusive and diverse community.
Prior to joining Willis Towers Watson, Alicia held several leadership roles at various brokerages and at International Media Services.
Mr. Carlos Botero
Driving forward with a clear line of sight to execute on a holistic business strategy, Carlos Botero is positioned in a key role as DIRECTV’s vice president of Human Resources for Operations. As he partners with senior Operations leaders to produce record-setting results, he delivers a results oriented culture, a strong leadership pipeline and workforce agility.
Carlos’ business expertise stems from a deep operations and customer service background that he leverages with his experience in every aspect of the HR function. This synergistic combination has resulted in his ability to consistently excel Operations’ capabilities and create new opportunities at a global level.
Forward-thinking with broad experience in intercultural management, Carlos joined DIRECTV Latin America in 2003 as senior director of Human Resources. He brought a service mentality to the organization, using his interpersonal capabilities to work with C-level executives and senior local management in each country.
As Latin America regional director for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Carlos created a cohesive team by applying best practices, promoting interdependence and facilitating individual growth. He also created a new marketing unit for Latin America to implement complete change in their business-to-business selling strategies.
Carlos provides a defined vision for an organization’s direction and can identify the dynamic talent required to reach targeted goals. Under his leadership, the strategic aspects of HR: culture management, talent management and employee engagement are non-negotiable. He considers mastery of these elements essential for success. He matches these priorities with his skill to attract top talent and quickly transforms groupings of individuals into a unified, powerful team.
Carlos enjoys spending time with his wife and two daughters and feels fortunate to have traveled and “witnessed the human experience” in over 30 countries.