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A Sporting Chance
Photo by Alice Sassu
The fall that had such a profound effect on Jorge Perez de Leza’s life would later have a big impact on others with disabilities as well.
“When you hear somebody say that in one minute your life changes—it really can happen,” says Jorge Perez de Leza (MBA 1996), the CEO of Metrovacesa, one of Spain’s oldest and largest real estate developers and the founder of Fundación Deporte y Desafío (Sport and Challenge Foundation), which provides athletic and recreational opportunities to people with disabilities.
Only 25 at the time, the native of Madrid was taking an extended summer vacation before starting Harvard Business School in fall 1993. His mishap—a freak accidental fall—cost him the use of his legs and delayed his entrance to HBS by a year. But once there, he embraced the School’s approach of building deep general management and leadership skills, which he has relied on during his varied career, which has included jobs in consulting, technology, retail, and finally real estate.
Looking for a way to stay healthy after his accident, Perez de Leza first took up hand-crank cycling, and then adaptive skiing. Inspired, he started recruiting and bringing adaptive sports coaches and trainers to come to Spain, and his foundation has grown over the past 25 years to serve 1,500 people a year with a budget of more than €1 million. Meanwhile, Metrovacesa’s market capitalization has grown to nearly $6 billion during his seven-year tenure.
Balancing his work life, nonprofit life, and family life is challenging but worth it if you have the right tools, he says. “I specialize in nothing, but I think I can do pretty much anything,” he says of his HBS training. “You become a problem solver.”
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