Lorenzo Zambrano Dies: Cemex CEO Dead At 70 In Madrid

The CEO of the Mexican company Cemex, one of the largest cement companies in the world, Lorenzo Zambrano, died on Monday at age 70 in Madrid, the company said in a statement that did not specify the cause of death . "Cemex reports today in the city of Madrid, Spain, that Lorenzo H. Zambrano, CEO and chairman of the board of directors of the company, has passed away," the firm said in a filing with the Mexican Stock Exchange .

Cemex announced that the Board of Directors of the company will meet "in the coming days to make the necessary decisions" while the operation and administration of the group continues "to proceed normally." Born in 1944 in the city of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon (northeastern Mexico), Zambrano joined CEMEX in 1968, but it was not until 1985 that he was appointed CEO of the company founded by his grandfather in 1906. Zambrano combined the general direction of Cemex and the presidency of the Governing Body of Cement in 1995.

"Mexico has lost an extraordinary businessman and a great Mexican . A supportive hug to the family of Don Lorenzo Zambrano ," wrote the Secretary of Finance of Mexico, Luis Videgaray on his Twitter account. Cemex, which operates in over 50 countries with 43,000 employees, had annual sales of $ 15,227,000 in 2013. Lorenzo Zambrano studied mechanical engineering and had Master's in Business Administration at Stanford University.