Pierri Family

The Pierri’s history revolves around La Matanza, the largest and most populated district of the Greater Buenos Aires area. Its number of voters makes La Matanza a key electoral district at a national level. In spite of the fact that he never lived or worked there, Alberto Reinaldo Pierri was the district’s political leader in the 1990s.

Pierri or “Muñeco” entered the business world when he started to work at paper mill Papelera San Justo, which had belonged to his grandfather and then to his father (it would later become Papelera del Tucumán). Once he had become the paper mill’s manager, Pierri bought two other paper mills in the Great Buenos Aires area. In 1985 he took advantage of the power he enjoyed to close a political deal that was key for his future: he supplied Antonio Cafiero, a long-standing leader of Partido Justicialista, with paper for posters and ballots, and a place for his campaign. In turn, he was included on the list of legislative candidates. He was elected congressman, a position he held until 2001. He also presided over the Lower House during Carlos Menem’s two terms in office (1989–1999); made his candidate, Héctor Cozzi, Mayor of La Matanza; and promoted the creation of Universidad Nacional de La Matanza.

In the 1990s, he also began to purchase regional radio stations and was awarded several paid content TV licenses. With them, he created a TV system and, later, a cable operator. This is how Telecentro emerged and became the first multimedia group in offering triple play packages (internet, cable TV and fixed telephony) in Argentina.

Today Telecentro’s stock is equally distributed among Alberto and his children, Silvina, Lisandro and Martín, who also work in the group’s companies.