Guillermo Luksic Craig Dies: Chilean Businessman, Quineñco President Dead At 57

Guillermo Luksic Craig died Wednesday at the age of 57. The profound Chilean businessman, owner of the Quiñenco holdings company and the financial Luksic Group, succumbed to lung cancer after almost a year battling the disease.

Born in 1956, he was the son of Andrónico Luksic and Ena Craig. Luksic's paternal grandfather had moved to Chile from a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea and began a nitrate business. Luksic's stepmother, Iris Fontbona, is listed as the 33rd richest person in the world, worth almost $20 billion. Guillermo Luksic's biological mother died when he was a child.

Luksic leaves behind three daughters from his current marriage to Virginia Prieto and two sons from a previous marriage.

Guillermo Luksic himself was worth an approximate $17 billion at the time of his death. Luksic was on the board of trustees for Finis Terrae University. He left law school at the University of Chile to pursue the family business. Guillermo Luksic became president of Quiñenco, a company that owns Banco de Chile as well as Shell Energy of Chile, in 1982.

"His creative and analytical mind, his ability to build strong teams professionally, to say things up front and thoroughly evaluate the business were key to the sustained growth of Quiñenco under his leadership," Quiñenco said in a statement.

His brother, Andronico Luksic Craig said: "We will miss his advice, his company, [and] his intelligence."