Iris Fontbona

The fortune was inherited from the Luksic business empire

Forbes identifies Fontbona as the widow of Andrónico Luksic, who built a fortune in mining and beverages before his death in 2005. The businesses were left to Fontbona and his sons, making succession to an already established family enterprise the decisive origin of her billionaire wealth. ^[1]

The family assets span two large public-company structures. Forbes says Fontbona and her children control copper miner Antofagasta and also own a majority stake in Quiñenco, the Chilean conglomerate whose holdings extend across financial services, beverages, energy, transport and port services. ^[1][3]

Antofagasta's 2025 annual report shows how that control is organized rather than held as a simple personal share block. Luksic family interests in the E. Abaroa Foundation control entities holding about 60.66% of Antofagasta's ordinary shares, with additional family-linked ownership held through another foundation. ^[2]

Family holding structures preserve the inherited operating base

Quiñenco states that the Luksic Group controls 83% of the holding company and traces its present financial and industrial parent-company structure to the 1990s. The portfolio includes controlling or influential positions in banking, beverages, energy, shipping and port services, preserving diversification across the family enterprise. ^[3]

The reviewed sources document ownership and control at the family level but do not establish that Fontbona personally founded, operated or materially expanded the businesses after inheriting them. Forbes instead identifies her sons in leadership roles at Antofagasta and Quiñenco, leaving the inherited family holdings as the clearest explanation of her fortune. ^[1][2]