Marcos Galperin
Now: Founder and CEO, MercadoLibre
First Job: Program manager
My first job was at YPF, an Argentine oil company that had been recently privatized and listed in the NYSE. I managed their capital markets and futures and options programs. It was a great experience, as I was 22 years old and everyone in my area had at least 25 years of experience working for the prior, state run-company, but had little international knowledge.
Given this, the fact that I had a good boss that delegated a lot and that the company was experiencing a transformation, I was able to do relevant transactions that I normally wouldn't have been able to do at that age. I learned to interact and lead a group of much older people that had been working for decades in a state-owned company, had lots of industry knowledge to share, and also were willing to adapt to a new working environment.
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Last updated October 29 2010: 7:00 AM ET
