Javier Teruel

Javier G. Teruel built a 35-year career at Colgate-Palmolive, which he joined in 1971 in marketing and sales at CP-Mexico — the company's largest subsidiary outside the United States. He rose through a series of senior international roles, serving as President of Colgate Mexico (1993–1997), President of Colgate Europe, and Executive Vice President with responsibility for Asia/South Pacific, Central Europe/Russia, and Africa/Middle East. He was appointed Vice Chairman of Colgate-Palmolive worldwide in 2004 and retired on April 1, 2007, after 35 years with the company.

After leaving Colgate, Teruel turned to investing. In 2007 he co-founded Spectron Desarrollo, a Mexico City-based investment management and consulting firm focused on impact and private equity investing in Mexican consumer goods and consumer service companies. In November 2012, Teruel and fellow Spectron co-founder Javier García-Teruel agreed to join forces with Alta Growth Capital in Mexico; Teruel came on as Chairman of the firm, bringing more than four decades of operating and investing experience to the partnership.

Alongside his investing work, Teruel has served on numerous corporate boards. He joined the board of Starbucks in 2005 and has also sat on the boards of J.C. Penney, The Nielsen Company, the Pepsi Bottling Group, and Mexican housing developer Corporación Geo. He has been active on the boards of Mexican private enterprises including Banco Finterra and Grupo ATSA (a non-metallic minerals business).

Teruel holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Management/Administration from Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City and completed Harvard Business School's International Senior Management Program (ISMP). He is known for a stakeholder-oriented view of corporate governance, arguing that boards should represent customers, employees, communities, the environment, and suppliers — not only shareholders.

• Mexican domestic consumption play: Through Alta Growth Capital, Teruel backs middle-market companies positioned to benefit from rising consumption of goods and services in Mexico — consumer goods, financial services, housing, healthcare, education, entertainment, and selective manufacturing.
• Growth-stage checks: At the fund level, AGC deploys roughly US$10M–US$30M per company, targeting businesses with about US$15M–US$120M in revenue. The firm is flexible across growth capital, buyouts, and both majority and minority stakes.
• Operator's lens: Decades running large consumer businesses across Mexico, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East shape a preference for companies with proven, scalable growth and strong execution potential.
• Impact and stakeholder orientation: Via Spectron Desarrollo he has pursued impact investing in Mexican consumer companies, consistent with his stated belief that companies must "put the human being first."
• Stated philosophy on governance: "Being a director of a board is a huge honor and a huge responsibility… it has to work both ways."