Spanish businessman Dimas Gimeno is the founder and president of KAPTIA, a founding partner of WOW, and former CEO of El Corte Inglés. The latter is the biggest department store group in Europe and ranks third worldwide.
With a passion for the film industry but limited options in Spain, Dimas Gimeno ended up studying law at the CEU San Pablo University in Madrid, Spain. He also took a film course at the TAI Centro Universitario de Arties en Madrid at the same time, while working as a salesman in the family business, El Corte Inglés. With his sites set on the film industry, he never thought he would become the head of the largest European retail company before the age of 40.
Upon gaining his Master's in Private Law qualifications, Dimas Gimeno worked as an intern in the litigation department of Baker McKenzie, a private law firm. After that, he went to Australia for a year where he took two film courses and shot two short films.
Upon returning to Madrid, however, his uncle, the CEO of El Corte Inglés, made him an offer he could not refuse. It involved him moving to Portugal and opening the first company location in Lisbon. He was hooked by retail and realized that you could have more than one passion in life. From there he went on to open another location in Porto, Portugal, becoming the store’s director.
Dimas Gimeno returned to Spain as director of sales and marketing. In 2009, he joined the board of the Ramon Adeces Foundation. He became an El Corte Inglés director in 2010, followed by the position of advisor to the CEO in 2013. Upon the death of his uncle in 2014, he became the youngest president in the company’s history. He had not yet turned 40. His tenure as CEO saw the company see a marked rise in profits.
