Borja Prado will leave the non-executive presidency of Mediaset Spain in the coming weeks, business sources report. The former president of Endesa landed at the top management of the television group less than a year and a half ago, after serving as a director, to lead the succession of Paolo Vasile and Alejandro Echevarría. He is now leaving the company after having fundamental disagreements with the two first executives, the CEO, Alessandro Salem, and the CEO of Management and Operations, Massimo Musolino.
Prado, close to the Berlusconi family, landed at Mediaset with the position of executive president. Italy gave him responsibilities for the editorial line of the network and the reformulation of the programming of the group's channels, especially Telecinco. The changes did not take long to arrive.
However, last June Mediaset redesigned its organizational structure after completing the cross-border merger by absorption by the parent company MFE and Borja Prado became non-executive president. It was a degradation: from controlling the editorial line to being in charge of institutional relations. Salem and Musolino, for their part, rose in the organizational chart and went on to direct the audiovisual group in Spain.
Mediaset sources yesterday chose not to comment on Prado's departure and referred themselves to MFE. They added that it is a decision that affects the parent company and the financier.
Prado has excellent political connections and was a member of the Puente Aéreo organization that united businessmen from Catalonia and Madrid. Sources close to him highlight his relationship with the former Spanish presidents, José María Aznar, and French presidents, Nicolás Sarkozy. He also maintained a direct bridge of communication with the head of Mediaset in Milan, the late Silvio Berlusconi. His father was Manuel Prado de Colón y Carvajal, who was private administrator of King Juan Carlos. Currently he is the owner of the Torrealta bull ranch.
