Marcelo Mindlin, the ‘king of shale’ (and now of cement)

Marcelo Mindlin, often referred to as the "king of shale" and now the "king of cement", is experiencing a new historic moment in his ambitious business journey. Founder of Pampa Energía, the largest integrated energy group in Argentina, Mindlin has made bold moves in a country marked by instability. Now, he is leading a group of investors that took control of InterCement, one of the largest cement companies in Brazil and owner of Loma Negra, the leader in the Argentine market.

In parallel, Pampa announced a $2.7 billion project to enter urea production, expanding its business to fertilizers. Amid this phase of expansion, Mindlin spoke with Brazil Journal about his businesses, strategies, and perspectives for his country's economy. He did not want to discuss much about politics, which hints at one of his success formulas.

"I am lucky to be an entrepreneur and have to make investment decisions, not analyze politics," he said, who curiously once considered studying political science to become a journalist as a young man. "Entrepreneurs talk about the bottom line. It doesn't matter what I tell you, it matters what I do. Pampa completed 20 years, and in those 20 years, it went through all the governments you can imagine.

We invested and grew in every government." The trajectory began with acquisitions amidst a crisis in the electrical sector during the management of Peronist Néstor Kirchner. "If we had determined our expansion by political moments, we wouldn't have grown as we have. That is my investment line. When I see a good, sustainable business, we invest and move forward," Mindlin said.

And about the desire to be a journalist? "My father, a wise man, told me: what are you going to live on? Why not study economics too? And when I started, I realized I liked economics." His father's advice paid off. Pampa Energía is worth $4.6 billion on the stock exchange.