Santander: Ana Botín’s whirlwind start

Ana is a very determined and straightforward person who sees things rather in black and white,” says a close adviser to Santander’s executive chairman. “When she decides to do something, she doesn’t hang around.” She certainly hasn’t. On January 8, Ana Botín gave the green light to Santander’s issuance of €7.5 billion of new share capital in a ballsy accelerated bookbuild, even as nervous equity investors struggled to absorb the implications of the still falling oil price for global growth and European deflation.