Juan Figuereo ‘81
Vice President
Mergers and Acquisitions
Wal-Mart Stores, inc.

The following text was included in the 2006 Dean’s Report for the College of Business Administration.  Links to other College of Business publications can be found here.

 “When I thought about switching my major from architecture to accounting, my friends told me ‘you have to go to Florida International University,’ and it has made a big difference in my professional life,” said Juan Figuereo, vice president,
Mergers and Acquisitions, for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. “The accounting program in the business school there taught me that when you want something, you have to focus on it 100% and leave no room for distractions,” Figuereo said. “The school gave me the confidence to pursue my goals and to operate effectively in very diverse environments.”

A review of Figuereo’s career is a testament to that fact. As a controller and later a chief financial officer with Pepsi-Cola Company, he lived in Florida, Brasil, and Spain. As a vice president with Frito-Lay, he worked in London and in his native Dominican Republic. In 2003, he and his family moved to Bentonville, Arkansas, so he could assume his current position with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Figuereo is enthusiastic about helping the company build an international presence.

 “Wal-Mart’s global operations are very young, and that means there are many opportunities available to us,” he said. “It’s very exciting.” “What I love about Wal-Mart is that while it is a big corporation, in many ways it feels like a family business,” he said.

“We have an open-door policy that is in effect all the way up to the CEO. Mutual respect is core to our values.” He is grateful to the college for his success to date. “What I learned at the school has set the stage for every career accomplishment I’ve had,” he said. “When I tell people I got my accounting degree at Florida International University, they are very impressed. It has given me credibility in the business world and opened many doors.”

“The accounting degree provided me with excellent business training and taught me to think in ways that were new and different,” he said, adding that one of the most valuable lessons he learned was how to focus on the “big picture” rather than on getting mired in the details.

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Vice President of a Multinational Company
Juan Figuereo ’81