José Antonio Llorente Herrero, Founding Partner and Executive Chairman of LLYC, passes away.

José Antonio Llorente, founding partner and Executive Chairman of LLYC, passed away yesterday in Madrid at 63. The Board of Directors and the professional partners of LLYC have expressed their deep sadness and solidarity with José Antonio Llorente’s wife, Irene Rodriguez, his daughter, Mara, and his mother and siblings, to whom they have conveyed all their affection. 

Born in 1960, José Antonio founded LLYC in 1995. He had started his career at Agencia Efe and the communication department of the CEOE. Before creating his firm, he became CEO of Burson Marsteller in Spain, then the leader in the sector. In 2021, he was recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus of the Faculty of Information Sciences at Complutense University, where he graduated in Journalism. 

At LLYC, he realized his vision of a firm of professional partners, focused on delivering results for its clients, obsessed with innovation, and generating real growth opportunities for the best professionals. Soon, his drive and dedication made LLORENTE & CUENCA a leader in communications, marketing, and public affairs consulting in Spain and Latin America. Today, José Antonio Llorente’s project is a listed company, which is among the 40 biggest in the world and has more than 1,200 collaborators. In 2015, he shared much of his experience and trajectory in the book “El Octavo Sentido” (The Eighth Sense). 

Long before falling ill with cancer, José Antonio anticipated a future for LLYC that transcended people. He drove the partner model, our IPO on BME Growth, and a robust corporate governance model. 

“José Antonio, JALL to the entire LLYC team, leaves us a great legacy to nurture and grow. All of us who have had the immense fortune to know him, work with him, and learn with him will always be grateful for his generosity, audacity, and brilliance, but above all, for his kindness. A teacher, a mentor, and a great friend have left us. We are committed to making his immense legacy even greater,” said Alejandro Romero, partner and Global CEO, on behalf of the entire LLYC team. 

Passionate about contemporary art and a collector focused on Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin American art, he was a Trustee of El Museo del Barrio in New York, a member of the International Patronage Council of the Reina Sofia Museum Foundation, and a member of the Advisory Board of the ARCO Foundation, which had informed him of the award for Spanish Collector of the Year at the 2024 edition of the fair. His philanthropic work also includes his commitment to the LLYC Foundation, whose board of trustees he chaired until 2022, and his permanent collaboration with the Spanish Association for the Fight Against Cancer.

Those who wish to accompany his family in these painful moments may do so at the Parcesa La Paz Funeral Home in Alcobendas, on the highway from Madrid to Colmenar exit 20 700, Room number 1, from Tuesday, January 2 at 09:00 am. The cremation ceremony will be at 14:00 hours, as Jose Antonio himself arranged.