Seven Colombians Make Latin America’s Influence List
COLOMBIA · BUSINESS
Key Facts
- —What happened Seven Colombians appear on the Thought Leaders 100 America Latina 2026 ranking of business influence.
- —Who publishes it The list is compiled by the consultancy Horse, which measures the public influence of executives.
- —The top two David Velez of Nubank is seventh and Juan Carlos Mora of Bancolombia is tenth.
- —The catch Only two of the seven actually run banks, despite the headline framing in early coverage.
- —The rest Rappi, Google and Diageo account for three more of the Colombian names.
- —The dates La Republica covered the ranking on 4 September and Infobae on 7 September.
Two of the seven run banks. The shorthand that Colombia’s influence is a banking story does not survive the list itself.
Seven Colombians appear on a new regional ranking of business influence. The story around it needs one correction before it travels further.
The list is the Thought Leaders 100 America Latina 2026. It is compiled by the consultancy Horse.
Horse measures public influence rather than revenue or market value. That makes it a visibility ranking, not a wealth one.
Early coverage said most of the seven Colombians run banks. Two of them do.
That matters because rankings get quoted long after the article that carried them. A wrong summary outlives the correct list.
The Seven
David Velez is seventh. He founded and runs Nu Holdings, the parent of Nubank, Latin America’s largest digital bank.
Juan Carlos Mora Uribe is tenth. He is president of Bancolombia, the country’s largest traditional lender.
Simon Borrero is twelfth. He co-founded and runs Rappi, the delivery and technology platform born in Bogota.
Adriana Norena is twenty-seventh. She is vice president for Spanish-speaking Latin America at Google.
Alvaro Cardenas is fifty-second, as managing director for Latin America at Diageo. Andres Gonzalez is sixty-second and Diego Ossa seventy-fourth, both linked to the financial sector.
The Correction Worth Making
Only Velez and Mora clearly run banks. Borrero runs a delivery platform, Norena a technology sales organisation, Cardenas a drinks business.
Gonzalez and Ossa are described as financial sector figures. Their exact current roles are not clearly specified in the published coverage.
The Rio Times could not verify their titles. They are listed here by name and rank only.
Two bankers out of seven is a different sentence from most of them are bankers. The second version reinforces a stereotype the list does not support.
What the List Actually Measures
Horse builds the ranking from public influence signals. Media presence, speaking platforms and digital reach all feed into it.
That favours executives who speak publicly. A quietly effective chief executive of a large private company can be absent entirely.
It also favours consumer-facing businesses. Banks, delivery apps and technology platforms all touch millions of people directly.
Mining, energy and agriculture are under-represented as a result. Those industries employ more people than they persuade.
That is a limitation rather than a flaw. The list says what it measures.
The Contrast at the Top
Velez at seven and Mora at ten is the interesting pairing. One built a digital bank from nothing in a decade.
The other runs an institution founded in the nineteenth century. Both are Colombian, and both sit in the top ten.
Infobae highlighted exactly that contrast. It is the clearest thing the ranking says about Colombian finance.
The Wider Reading
Colombian influence on this list runs through companies that are not all Colombian. Nubank is Brazilian by domicile, Google and Diageo are American and British.
That is the shape of Colombian business leadership now. The talent is exported even when the company is not.
Rappi is the exception that stays home. It was founded in Bogota and remains identified with the city.
Colombians abroad still register as Colombians on this list. Horse ranks the person, not the passport of the employer.
Several other Colombians sit just outside the hundred. The consultancy does not publish the names below the cut.
What to Watch
The first marker is next year’s list. A ranking built on visibility moves faster than one built on assets.
The second is whether Gonzalez and Ossa are identified more clearly. Two of seven names without a stated employer is a gap in the reporting.
The third is how the list is used. Influence rankings shape board searches and conference invitations more than they shape markets.
More: Colombia news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Thought Leaders 100 America Latina?
It is a ranking of 100 influential business leaders in Latin America compiled by the consultancy Horse. It measures public influence rather than company revenue or market value.
Which Colombians are on the 2026 list?
David Velez of Nubank at seven, Juan Carlos Mora of Bancolombia at ten, Simon Borrero of Rappi at twelve, Adriana Norena of Google at twenty-seven, Alvaro Cardenas of Diageo at fifty-two, Andres Gonzalez at sixty-two and Diego Ossa at seventy-four.
Are most of them bankers?
No. Only two of the seven clearly run banks, Velez at Nubank and Mora at Bancolombia. The others lead a delivery platform, a technology sales organisation and a drinks business, with two more described only as financial sector figures.
Sources: Infobae Colombia, La Republica, Horse, Rio Times.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error
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