Ana Botín

Ana Botín has now delivered four consecutive years of record profits at Santander. In 2025, the bank posted approximately $15.9 billion in net profit, up 12% year over year, on roughly $70.38 billion in total revenue, hitting every financial target Botín had set for the year. The bank crossed 180 million customers for the first time, adding 8 million in a single year. Return on tangible equity reached 16.3%—an all-time high—and Santander committed to returning at least $11.3 billion or so to shareholders through cash dividends and share buybacks. Botín, who has run Santander since succeeding her father as executive chair in 2014, is now pressing into the next phase: a 2026–28 strategic plan anchored in data and AI, which she projects will deliver more than €1 billion ($1.13 billion) in annual business value through a combination of cost reductions and revenue growth. She’s also expanding Santander’s footprint in developed markets, with a recent $12.2 billion acquisition of Webster Bank in the U.S. signaling her appetite for growth is far from satisfied.