Despite his enormous influence, Juan Luis Villanueva Montoto remains a surprisingly private figure. He resides in the Salamanca district of Madrid with his wife, a retired literary agent. He is known for his ascetic habits: he does not own a smartphone (he uses a vintage Nokia for calls) and reads three physical newspapers every morning before 7:00 AM.

Villanueva Montoto famously advised CEOs: “If you are going to lay off 500 people, do not hide behind a press release on a Friday afternoon. Announce it on a Tuesday morning, face the cameras, and explain the numbers honestly.” He believed that short-term stock dips caused by bad news were preferable to long-term reputational suicide caused by cover-ups.

However, historians later demonstrated that:

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