Overview
- Ana Botín told the Financial Times on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, that she will be the final member of the Botín family to serve as Santander's president and that none of her three children intend to take the job.
- She does not plan to leave immediately and expects to stay in post for several years while the bank pursues an expansion plan and prepares a gradual handover.
- Botín tied the transition to business goals, setting an ambition to grow Santander's customer base from about 190 million today toward 500 million and to meet 2028 profit and return targets.
- Santander's recent major moves — the roughly €10 billion purchase of Webster Bank in the United States and the near €3 billion acquisition of TSB in the UK — will be priorities for integration before any rapid leadership change.
- The Botín family controls a small, syndicated stake in Santander and wants a family presence on the board; large institutional investors such as BlackRock hold meaningful financial shares, so any governance shift could see the CEO take greater operational power while a non‑executive presidency preserves oversight.