Félix de Vicente

He was born to Luis de Vicente Cabello and Rosario Mingo Echavarri.^[4] He entered into a civil marriage on 30 September 1988 in Las Condes^[5] with María Elisa Eguiguren Balmaceda (daughter of Raúl Francisco Antonio Eguiguren Ortúzar and Eliana Bernardita Balmaceda Jaramillo),^[4] with whom he has five children.^[3]

He completed his primary education at Saint George's College in Santiago, graduating in 1981 as the top student of his class ("best Georgian"). He later enrolled in business administration with a major in economics at the University of Chile.^[3][6][7] At that institution he served as president of his school’s student association in 1986–87. He also undertook studies in civil engineering at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.^[3][7]

After graduating, he joined the retail company Telemercados Europa as Administration and Finance Manager, a company that had been acquired by Alfredo Moreno, for whom he had served as a teaching assistant at university.^[3][6][7] At the same time, he carried out various agricultural businesses with his father and older brother, which allowed him to accumulate capital.^[3][6]

In 1991, together with his father-in-law, Antonio Eguiguren, he acquired the door manufacturing company Beagle Doors.^[6] Three years later, the American company Jeld-Wen purchased a 25% stake in the firm.^[6][7] In the early 2000s, the Chilean partners sold their entire participation for a figure that, according to analysts, exceeded US$12 million.^[6][7]

Afterwards, together with businessman Ignacio Cueto, he became involved in the kitchen equipment supplier The Kitchen Center.^[6][7] Simultaneously, he was a partner—along with his father-in-law and Rafael Valdivieso—of the Yarur family in the cemetery chain Parque del Sendero.^[6][7]

Other companies in which he participated included De Vicente Plásticos, founded by his father in 1967, and Tecno Tip Top, a services and products firm for the mining industry.^[6]

He entered the Chilean state apparatus in March 2010 as Director of ProChile, after being recruited by Moreno, now his superior as Minister of Foreign Affairs.^[3][7] In May 2013 he assumed the post of Minister of Economy, Development and Tourism, replacing the resigned Pablo Longueira, who had decided to launch a (ultimately unsuccessful) presidential bid.^[3][7]

In December 2013, he formalized his membership in the Independent Democratic Union.^[8]