Antonio Asensio Pizarro

Antonio Asensio Pizarro (11 June 1947 – 20 April 2001) was a Spanish mass media entrepreneur. Having inherited his late father's business at 18, he founded Grupo Zeta in 1976. Starting with the magazine Interviú, which reached circulation of 1 million, his company then moved into newspapers with El Periódico de Catalunya, which became the highest selling in Catalonia. In 1998, he bought 99% of football club RCD Mallorca.

Early life Asensio was born in Barcelona as the youngest of four children and only son. His father from Zaragoza, also named Antonio, ran a phototypesetting workshop. Asensio graduated in industrial engineering, and was briefly a sports journalist for the Correo Catalan in 1965. When he was 18, his father died and he took over the company. His presidency of Mallorca was the most successful period in the history of the club, which went back into decline when his company ceased being a shareholder; their training complex was named in his honour.

Personal life Asensio married French-Algerian Chantal Mosbah. They had three daughters (one adopted from China) and a son. The latter, also named Antonio, inherited his business at the age of 19. The eldest daughter Ingrid married the Real Madrid footballer Fernando Sanz, son of club president Lorenzo Sanz.

Asensio died of a brain tumour in Barcelona at the age of 53.