Juan Luis Cebrián

Writer and Journalist

Juan Luis Cebrián, born in Madrid, is a philosopher, journalist, and writer. He studied Philosophy and Letters at the Complutense University of Madrid and graduated in Information Sciences from the Madrid School of Journalism. A co-founder of Cuadernos para el diálogo in 1963, he served as editor-in-chief and deputy director of Pueblo and Informaciones, later becoming director of the News Services of Spanish Television (TVE) in 1974. In 1976, he became the founding editor of El País, which under his leadership became Spain’s leading
newspaper during the democratic transition.

In 1988 he was appointed CEO of Grupo PRISA, where together with Jesús Polanco he built the largest Spanish-language media conglomerate, with holdings in radio (Cadena SER, Radio Caracol), television (Canal Plus Spain, channels in Portugal and Bolivia), publishing (Santillana), and international press (Le Monde, The Independent, Público). From 1986 to 1988, he was president of the International Press Institute (IPI) and has served on editorial boards across Europe and the Americas.

He has received numerous awards, including Spain’s National Journalism Prize (1983), the Freedom of Expression Medal from the Roosevelt Foundation, and the Medal of Honor from the University of Missouri. He is a member of the Royal Spanish Academy since 1997, Doctor Honoris Causa from several universities, and has been decorated by governments in Latin America and Europe.

Cebrián is the author of more than twenty books of essays and fiction, including La Red, Letters to a Young Journalist, Primera Página, and El efecto Sánchez. He has also been an active lecturer and columnist in Spanish and international media. A regular participant for over twenty years in the Bilderberg Group, he now serves on the International Council of the Paley Center for Media in New York. Since retiring as Executive Chairman of PRISA in 2017, he has devoted himself to writing and developing cultural and financial projects.