José María Martínez de las Rivas

José María Martinez de las Rivas (29 September 1848 – 13 April 1913) was a Spanish pioneer businessman in the industrialization of Biscay, promoting shipbuilding, steelmaking, mining exploitation, and house building.

He is best known for being the co-founder of the Astilleros del Nervión in 1889, where Club Atleta was founded in 1892.

Early and personal life José María Martinez de las Rivas was born on 29 September 1848 in Galdames as the fifth child of Santiago Luis Martinez de Lexartza (in the spelling of the time, Lejarza) from Galdames, and Antonia Deogracias de las Rivas Ubieta from Gordexola, and therefore, his real surname was Martinez de Lexartza de las Rivas. However, he was baptized as Martinez de las Rivas, combining his father's and mother's first names.

Industrialist activity After studying in Bilbao, Martinez de las Rivas began his business-oriented training in 1860, traveling first to Madrid and then to London to gain experience in the wine exporting house of one of his uncle Francisco.

From then on, there were clashes between Martínez Rivas and Palmer, as well as controversies in the press about the situation of the shipyards and their viability. He also obtained the senator's seat in 1899, 1901, and 1903, His son even went on to preside over the club in two different stages, between 1898 and 1900, and again between 1904 and 1906.

Death The sculptor Benlliure captured his physiognomy in a sculpture that stands in Galdames.

Martinez de las Rivas died in Madrid on 13 April 1913, at the age of 65, when he was one of the richest men in northern Spain and his fortune was valued at that time at about 16 million pesetas.

From that moment, the heirs of the Martínez Rivas House began to fragment the business unit to get rid of the lots that had belonged to them, and just eight years later, What had been one of the most powerful industrial networks in Spain no longer existed. In 1920, his heirs sold all the factory facilities and the Nervión Shipyards to Altos Hornos de Vizcaya for 43 million pesetas. Little by little all the pieces fell apart, except for one that the family wanted to keep: Coto Musel, due to its spectacular profits.