Fernando Carro has been CEO at Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH since 1 July 2018. The Spaniard completed his Abitur exams at the German School in Barcelona. That was followed by training as an industrial management assistance at BASF in Spain and a Master of Business and Engineering course at the University of Karlsruhe. During that time he was involved in the student organisation AIESEC in Venezuela and Germany. From 1990 to 1991 he was chairman of the board in Germany and then for two years president of AIESEC International.
After completing his studies, Carro joined Bertelsmann AG in Gütersloh. He proved to be successful at the international company in different positions over many years. He was in senior management in both the media and educational sections at Bertelsmann. Most recently, Carro was CEO at Bertelsmann subsidiary Arvato, a service company with some 70,000 employees, and he also represented Arvato as a member of the Bertelsmann SE board.
Carro has been interested in sport, and football in particular, since early childhood. For many years, the passionate tennis fan was a member at FC Barcelona but his season ticket for the legendary Camp Nou stadium will not be used as often now he has taken up his leading position at Bayer 04. 'Bayer instead of Barca' - that is now the maxim for Carro, who also worked as a freelance sports journalist for different newspapers in Spain, Austria and Germany at the start of the 1980s. Combining enthusiasm for football with economic expertise and establishing Bayer 04 at the top of German football is the target for Carro, who sees a professional dream come true in taking up his post at the Werkself.
Date of birth: 27 July 1964
Place of birth: Barcelona
Family: Married, three children
Fernando Carro used the international break for a business trip over the Atlantic. The Bayer 04 CEO was invited as a guest and speaker at one of the biggest sports business events in North America, Soccerex in Miami. Carro together with Paul Garber, the CEO of the Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion, gave a presentation on current developments and challenges for professional football in Europe.
Show moreFernando Carro, Bayer 04 CEO, is a guest on the TV programme Doppelpass on SPORT1 on Sunday 17 September. Presenter Florian König and co-presenter Katharina Kleinfeldt will welcome the 59-year-old live in the studio in Munich from 11.00 CEST. Topics up for discussion include the Bundesliga top match between the Werkself and FC Bayern (2-2) on Friday night, the start of the season in the Women’s Bundesliga plus other football-related subjects over the weekend.
Show moreFernando Carro will continue to represent Bayer 04 Leverkusen at the highest level in European football. The CEO was re-elected to the executive board at the general meeting of the European Club Association (ECA) in Berlin.
Show moreFernando Carro has led Bayer 04 as chairman of the board since 2018. The contract extension with head coach Xabi Alonso represents a coup for the 59-year-old Spaniard together with the sporting managing director Simon Rolfes. In an interview for the Werkself Yearbook coming out on Friday, Fernando Carro explains how he has rebuilt the club away from the coaching appointment, talks about professionalism, his understanding of leadership quality and he speaks about sporting political issues openly as usual.
Show moreFernando Carro, Bayer 04 CEO, will be a pundit on Sunday 27 November on ZDF for the broadcast of the World Cup match between Germany and Spain. Tonight, Friday 25 November, the BayArena will be lit up in orange to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. This and more in today's news in brief.
Show more