Born in Madrid to an Algerian-Belgian father, Youssef Agag, who was a banker, and a Spanish mother, Soledad Longo Álvarez de Soto Mayor,[1] Agag was raised in Madrid – where he had his primary and secondary education at the Colegio Retamar, Pozuelo de Alarcón (a fee-paying school affiliated with Opus Dei, a Catholic movement) – Paris and New York. Agag graduated from the Colegio Universitario de Estudios Financieros (CUNEF) in Madrid with a degree in economics and business Studies.[2] Agag is fluent in the Spanish, English, French, and Italian languages.[2]
Political career
Agag's political career began when, at the early age of 18, he became a member of Nuevas Generaciones (NNGG), the youth organization of the main center-right Spanish party Partido Popular, which at the time was in the opposition. Having been actively involved in politics while at university, he quickly moved up the ranks of the youth structure of the party, joining the international relations department due to his knowledge of languages.[3]
During that time, Agag traveled extensively, representing NNGG in organizations such as DEMYC and EYCD, center-right parties from Europe and the world that brought together youth political branches. Agag was elected International Secretary of NNGG at their congress in 1994.
In the same year, Agag graduated in economics and was offered the position of Deputy Secretary General (DSG) of the European People's Party (EPP), an offer that was a direct result of the election – a few months earlier – of the German Klaus Welle as secretary general. Welle and Agag met at the youth organizations level, and Welle took Agag with him to the EPP – Agag was 23 at the time. That year, Agag also ran for a seat in the European Parliament, campaigning in towns and villages in Extremadura; he was not elected at this time.
As Deputy Secretary General, Agag was tasked with coordinating the different policy working groups within the EPP and drafting policy papers to be presented at the Congress. As DSG, Agag was a member of the EPP Summit, which meets before the European Council meetings and includes all of EPP's Heads of State and Government.[4][5]
In 1996, the center-right won the elections in Spain, and Agag was offered the position of designated aid of the President of the Government, José María Aznar. The President had three aides: one diplomat, one military, and one political (Agag). He was 25 at the time and spent three years in that position.
In 1999, at 28 years of age, he was elected a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Partido Popular.[6] He entered the Economic and Monetary Affairs Commission, focusing on antitrust policy.[6][7] In 2000 he led the Parliament's report on antitrust policy and was active in redrafting the present antitrust rules.
Earlier that year he had also been elected Secretary General (SG) of the European People's Party,[8] replacing his colleague, Klaus Welle. During his mandate as SG, the organization expanded to Eastern Europe. During that period, it incorporated more than 20 new political parties from that region. Later that year, for the first time, the EPP won the European Parliament elections and became the largest political force in Europe.[9]
Agag was also active in Italy. Making a controversial decision against some member parties within the organization, he pushed for the acceptance of Forza Italia, Silvio Berlusconi's party, into the EPP. Berlusconi went on to win the elections in Italy in 2001. That year Agag intervened in the closing campaign rally of Forza Italia in Rome.
In 2000 Agag was elected in Mexico as the Secretary General of the Christian Democratic International, renamed at that meeting as the Centrist Democratic International. This global political organization has over 90 member parties from all over the world.
In 2001, Agag made a decision to cease his political activities in order to further his career in business and sporting activities.[citation needed] The following year he was succeeded at the EPP by an old acquaintance that he knew during his times with Aznar: Antonio López-Istúriz. He remained a member of the European Parliament until 2002.[6]
In 2002 Agag moved to London and started his own consultancy firm. He has been very active in multiple fields, including telecoms, energy, and especially media. Agag expanded his activities to financial advisory and fund management, forming a company called Addax Capital LLP, which is regulated by the FSA. Agag is currently Chairman of Addax and was joined in 2009 by Ignacio Muñoz Alonso, former CEO of Rothschild Bank in Spain, who worked for Lehman Brothers before that.
In 2007, the Financial Times named him as one of the 10 "shakers and movers" of the Spanish economy, and he was described as a "political hopeful, economist, banker and indefatigable dealmaker".
Agag is frequently mentioned in the media for his extensive range of contacts, both political and business, from all over the world. The Spanish newspaper 'El Pais' once described his Nokia SIM Card as "Priceless".
In 2008, GQ Magazine elected him as the Spanish "Businessman of the Year."
Sports: Formula 1, Formula E, GP2 and football
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Agag business activity within sports mainly focuses on motorsport and football. According to the Spanish newspaper 'El Pais', Agag, together with Flavio Briatore, acquired very early on the Formula One T.V. rights for Spain. This was achieved via a U.K.-based company and played a key role in the huge expansion of Formula One in Spain where television audiences have multiplied over the past few years. Agag is also very heavily involved in the 'sponsorship' side of the business, he is said to be behind some of the major deals lately achieved in the sport.[10][11][12]
Agag owned the Barwa AddaxGP2 Series Team which won the title in 2008 and was runner-up in 2009.[13] He took over the Team from former F1 driver, Adrián Campos, in mid-2007.[14] The team's main sponsor is the Qatari real estate company, Barwa. Three drivers from Addax, Romain Grosjean, Vitaly Petrov and Lucas di Grassi, have made it to the F1.[15] In 2010, Agag started competing in GP3 with the Addax GP3 Team.[16][17][18]
Agag served as chairman of QPR for a few months during the take-over and then remained in the club as a shareholder. The plan was to have QPR promoted to the English Premier League, a feat that was achieved in 2011.[24][25]
Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system.
Bernard Charles Ecclestone is a British former business magnate. He is the former chief executive of the Formula One Group, which manages Formula One motor racing and controls the commercial rights to the sport. As such, he was commonly described in journalism as the 'F1 Supremo'.
Benetton Formula Ltd., commonly referred to simply as Benetton, was a Formula One constructor that participated from 1986 to 2001. The team was owned by the Benetton family who run a worldwide chain of clothing stores of the same name. In 2000, the team was purchased by Renault, but competed as Benetton for the 2000 and 2001 seasons. In 2002, the team became Renault. The Benetton Formula team was chaired by Alessandro Benetton from 1988 to 1998.
Flavio Briatore is an Italian businessman. He started his career as a restaurant manager and insurance salesman in Italy. Briatore was convicted in Italy on several fraud charges in the 1980s, receiving two prison sentences, though the convictions were later extinguished by an amnesty. Briatore set up a number of successful Benetton franchises as a fugitive in the Virgin Islands and the United States. In 1990, he was promoted by Luciano Benetton to manage the Benetton Formula One racing team, which became Renault F1 in 2002. From 2007 to 2011, he was part-owner and chairman of London's Queens Park Rangers F.C. In September 2009, Briatore was forced to resign from the ING Renault F1 team due to his involvement in race fixing at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. After the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) conducted its own investigation, Briatore was banned indefinitely from any events sanctioned by the FIA, although this ban was later overturned by a French Tribunal de Grande Instance.
Adrián Campos Suñer was a Spanish Formula One driver. He participated in 21 Grands Prix, debuting on 12 April 1987, without scoring a championship point. He later moved into team management, with more success. He was the founder of the Campos Meta Formula One team, which competed in Formula One from 2010 to 2012. He founded Campos Racing in 1998.
Istanbul Park, also known as the Istanbul Racing Circuit or initially as the Istanbul Otodrom, is a motor sports race track in the Tuzla district of Istanbul, Turkey. Designed by Hermann Tilke, it opened on 19–21 August 2005. It has been called "the best race track in the world" by former Formula One Chief Executive Bernie Ecclestone, who held the managing rights of the circuit between 2007 and 2011. The circuit was then managed by the Turkish company Intercity since October 2012 to March 2024. The operating rights were given to Can Bilim Eğitim Kurumları A.Ş. in April 2024 for 30 years.
Mecachrome SAS is a precision engineering company based in France that operates in the aerospace, motor racing, energy and defence sectors.
Formula racing is any of several forms of open-wheeled single-seater motorsport. The origin of the term lies in the nomenclature that was adopted by the FIA for all of its post-World War II single-seater regulations, or formulae. The best known of these formulae are Formula One, Formula E, Formula Two, Formula Three, regional Formula Three and Formula Four. Common usage of "formula racing" encompasses other single-seater series, including the IndyCar Series and the Super Formula Championship.
Nelson Angelo Tamsma Piquet Souto Maior, also known as Nelson Piquet Junior or Nelsinho Piquet, is a Brazilian stock car racing driver and former Formula One and Formula E driver where he was champion in the 2014–15 season. He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 33 Toyota Corolla E210 for Motul TMG Racing.
Campos Racing, previously Adrián Campos Motorsport since 2005, is a Spanish motor racing team based in Valencia, founded by former Formula One driver Adrián Campos in 1997. The team has been successful in Formula Three and the GP2 Series.
The 2009 GP2 Series season was the forty-third season of the second-tier of Formula One feeder championship and also fifth season under the GP2 Series moniker. The season consisted of twenty races at ten rounds, beginning on 9 May at the Circuit de Catalunya and finishing on 20 September at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve. The Algarve circuit hosted its first GP2 weekend, and was the only new circuit on the calendar. The Nürburgring also returned as part of its rotation with Hockenheim as the home of the German Grand Prix.
Addax, or Barwa Addax was a Spanish motorsport team owned by the bank Addax Capital, which competed in the GP2, GP3 and GP2 Asia Series.
The Renault Formula One crash controversy, dubbed Crashgate by some in the media, was a sporting scandal caused when Renault F1 driver Nelson Piquet Jr. deliberately crashed during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to give a sporting advantage to his Renault teammate, Fernando Alonso.
The 2010 GP2 Series season was the forty-fourth season of the second-tier of Formula One feeder championship and also sixth season under the GP2 Series moniker. The season began on 8 May at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmeló, Spain and ended on 14 November at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates after 20 races held at ten meetings.
Rio Haryanto is an Indonesian racing driver and businessman who last competed in the 2019-20 Asian Le Mans Series and the Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia for T2 Motorsports. He participated in Formula One for Manor Racing during the 2016 season. As of 2024, he is the only Indonesian driver to have competed in Formula One.
The 2011 GP3 Series season was the second season of the GP3 Series, a feeder series for the GP2 Series. The season began at Istanbul Park on 7 May and concluded at Autodromo Nazionale Monza on 11 September after eight rounds made up of two races each and all in support of European Formula 1 Grands Prix. The 2010 champion Esteban Gutiérrez graduated to the GP2 Series so did not defend his title.
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↑ British Library of Political and Economic Science - Routledge (10 March 2004). "Bibliography for 2002". international bibliography for the political science. Vol.51. Routledge. p.236. ISBN9781134339969.
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