Vicente Fox - Early Years

Early Years

Vicente Fox was born in Guanajuato on July 2, 1942, the second of nine children. His father was José Luis Fox Pont, a Mexican citizen and his mother Mercedes Quesada Etxaide, was Basque from San Sebastian, Gipuzkoa, Spain. Fox's paternal grandfather was born Joseph Louis Fuchs in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of Catholic immigrants Louis Fuchs and Catherina Elisabetha Flach of Strasbourg, now in France. The "Fox" surname was changed from the German "Fuchs" during the 1870s.

Fox spent his childhood and adolescence at the family ranch in San Francisco del Rincón in Guanajuato. He moved to Mexico City to attend the Universidad Iberoamericana and received a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration in 1964. He earned his diploma in Top Management Skills from the Harvard Business School in the United States in 1974.

In 1964, Fox went to work for the Coca-Cola Company where he started as a route supervisor, and he drove a delivery truck. He quickly rose in the company to become the supervisor of Coca-Cola's operations in Mexico, and later in all of Latin America. As the President of Coca Cola Mexico, Fox helped Coca-Cola become Mexico's top-selling soft drink, increasing Coca-Cola's sales by almost 50%.

Vicente Fox married a receptionist at Coca-Cola, Lilian de la Concha. They adopted four children, Ana Cristina, Vicente, Paulina, and Rodrigo. In 1990, after 20 years of marriage, Lilian filed for and was granted a divorce.

Vicente Fox married for the second time while in office as President. He married Marta María Sahagún Jiménez (until then his spokesperson) on July 2, 2001, the first anniversary of his presidential election and his 59th birthday. For both, this was their second marriage.

After retiring from Coca-Cola, Vicente Fox began to participate in various public activities in Guanajuato, where he created the "Patronato de la Casa Cuna Amigo Daniel", an orphanage. He was the president of the Patronato Loyola, a sponsor of the León campus of the Universidad Iberoamericana, and of the Lux Institute.