The character arc of Adriana Cisneros
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born on 17 December 1979 in Caracas. Between then and now sit Deerfield Academy in 1998, a Columbia degree in 2002, a master's in journalism at New York University in 2005, the vice chairmanship and strategy role from 2009, a Harvard programme in 2010, a digital division created in 2011, the chief executive job in 2013 at the age of thirty three, and the reorganisation of the company into three divisions. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Adriana Cisneros?
She wrote the plan for her own job.
She was born in Caracas in 1979 to Gustavo Cisneros and Patricia Phelps. Her paternal grandfather, Diego Cisneros, founded Grupo Cisneros; her maternal great-grandfather, William H. Phelps Sr., started the first television station in Venezuela in 1953. She graduated from Deerfield Academy in 1998, took a bachelor's degree at Columbia University in 2002 and a master's in journalism at New York University in 2005, and attended Harvard Business School's Program for Leadership Development in 2010. She worked at Aid for AIDS, which promotes awareness and treatment across Latin America.
From 2009 to August 2013 she was vice chairman and director of strategy at Grupo Cisneros, and in that role she worked with her father and the then chief executive, Steven Bandel, to create a transition plan. Four years of writing the plan for the job you are going to take is an unusual way to inherit a company, and it is the part of this line that matters.
In 2013, at thirty three, she was appointed chief executive, taking over from Bandel and becoming the third generation of her family to lead the organisation. She reorganised the company into three divisions: Cisneros Media, the legacy business, which includes the Venezuelan channel Venevision and the Miss Venezuela organisation; Cisneros Interactive, a digital division created in 2011 covering mobile advertising, commerce and games; and Cisneros Real Estate, which includes the Tropicalia development in the Dominican Republic. Two of the three she built from nothing. She is also president of the Fundacion Cisneros.
The moments
Adriana Cisneros's timeline.
The 1990s
Deerfield Academy
Milestone. The same school other people in her family had gone to.
The 2000s
Columbia
Milestone, and it changed her direction. A first degree, in New York.
Journalism at NYU
Milestone, and it changed everything. Journalism, in a family that owns a television channel.
Aid for AIDS
Milestone, and it changed her direction. A public health organisation, before the company.
Journalism, or the family company
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: go in and plan it properly, taken, or stay in journalism. She was appointed chief executive in 2013 at thirty three and reorganised the company into three divisions, two of which she created.
Director of strategy
Milestone, and it changed everything. Four years spent writing the plan for the job she would take.
The 2010s
A Harvard programme
Milestone. A leadership programme, in the middle of the transition years.
A digital division
Milestone, and it changed her direction. A division built from scratch, two years before she ran the company.
Chief executive at thirty three
Milestone, and it changed everything. Thirty three years old, and the third generation to run it.
Three divisions
Milestone, and it changed everything. One division inherited, and two of her own.
Tropicalia
Milestone, and it changed her direction. A tourism development in another country, built rather than bought.
The line reaches today still adding to itself, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. What it has set moving is the answer to the obvious objection: she took over a family company, and two of its three divisions are ones she made herself.
Your turn
Every line draws a unique story.
Hers spent four years planning the succession she was going to be on the other side of. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.
Adriana Cisneros: frequently asked questions
What people ask about her line.
What is Adriana Cisneros's character arc?
When did Adriana Cisneros become CEO?
What does Adriana Cisneros run?
What did Adriana Cisneros build herself?
Where did Adriana Cisneros study?
What is Adriana Cisneros's family business?
Where does this timeline of Adriana Cisneros's life come from?
More character arcs
Lives that rhyme with her.
Sources
- Adriana Cisneros, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people, including that her maternal great-grandfather William H. Phelps Sr. started the first television station in Venezuela in 1953.
- Grupo Cisneros corporate structure, including Cisneros Media, Cisneros Interactive and Cisneros Real Estate.
- Columbia University and New York University degree records, 2002 and 2005.