Luis Carlos Sarmiento
Banking · Bogota
Net worth
$10.6B
Today
−$20M−0.19%Past month
−$937M−8.13%As of Nov 11, 2026, 1:50 PM EST
Luis Carlos Sarmiento Angulo took a fortune amassed in the construction industry and invested it in banks. His Grupo Aval now controls one third of all banks in Colombia; his son Luis Carlos Sarmiento Gutierrez is chairman. After graduating with a degree in engineering, Sarmiento briefly worked at a construction company, but took a 10,000 pesos payout and started his own firm. He bought Colombia's largest newspaper El Tiempo in 2012 for an estimated $250 million. His construction firm built the Grand Hyatt in Bogota, which opened in August 2018.
Net worth over time
Principal holdings
8 positions| Company | Industry | Share | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
Private and other holdings | Finance & Investments | 53.8% | $5.7B |
Grupo Aval Acciones Y Valores COLOMBIA: GRUPOAVAL-CO | Finance & Investments | 32.2% | $3.4B |
Grupo Aval Acciones Y Valores - PREFERRED SHARES COLOMBIA: PFAVAL-CO | Finance & Investments | 7.2% | $761M |
Banco de Bogota COLOMBIA: BOGOTA-CO | Finance & Investments | 3.1% | $329M |
Corporacion Financiera Colombiana COLOMBIA: CORFICOLCF-CO | Finance & Investments | 2.4% | $253M |
Banco de Occidente S.A. COLOMBIA: OCCIDENTE-CO | Finance & Investments | 1.1% | $119M |
Banco Comercial AV Villas SA COLOMBIA: VILLAS-CO | Finance & Investments | 0.2% | $23M |
Banco Popular SA Bogota COLOMBIA: POPULAR-CO | Finance & Investments | 0.0% | $3M |
Also known for
- At age 14 he worked part time at Colombia's national radio network making programs for children.
- He is the second youngest in a family of 9 children.