He left his fortune of 210 million dollars to 80 villagers: Who is Antonino Fernandez Rodriguez?

Spanish-born Mexican businessman Antonio Fernandez Rodriguez donated his personal fortune to those who were born and live in the village of Cerezales del Condado, where he was born in Spain.

The famous businessman identified 80 people born and living in the village of Cerezales del Condado and divided the fortune of 210 million dollars among these people. Each of the 80 residents living in the village became the owner of a fortune of 2.6 million dollars.

Antonino Fernández Rodríguez (13 December 1917 – 31 August 2016) was a Spanish businessman, founder and former chairman of Grupo Modelo. Fernández was born in Cerezales del Condado, in the province of León, Spain. He was the eleventh of a family made up of 13 children, and he was married for almost sixty years to Cinia González Díez.

Village resident Maximino Sanchez said, "We have never had this much money. We would never have had it without Antonio."

Born as the 11th child of a family of 13 children in the village of Cerezales del Condado, Spain, Antonio Fernandez Rodriguez left school at the age of 14 because his family could not afford school expenses.

Grupo Modelo is a large brewery in Mexico that exports beer to most countries of the world. Its export brands include Corona, Modelo, and Pacífico. Grupo Modelo also brews brands that are intended solely for the domestic Mexican market and has exclusive rights in Mexico for the import and distribution of beer produced by Anheuser-Busch. Until the 1960s, Grupo Modelo used red poppy flowers in most of its advertising.

Rodriguez later immigrated to Mexico and became president of the Grupo Modelo company at the age of 32. Rodriguez achieved great success by making the "Corona" brand beer the most popular beer in Mexico.

Corona Beer Introduced: 1925

Rodriguez, who was awarded the badge of honor by King Juan Carlos of Spain for his work for physically disabled children, established a foundation on behalf of his village in 2009.

Striving to improve the quality of life of the people living in his village, businessman Rodriguez left some of his fortune to 300 people working in this foundation.