Manuel Arango

About

Mexican entrepreneur, film producer, and philanthropy leader known for building Grupo Cifra, the company behind Aurrerá, Superama, VIPS, El Portón, and Suburbia. He is also known for producing the 1971 short documentary Sentinels of Silence along with other documentary projects including Clipperton: Isla de la Pasión, Garden in the Sea, and The Other Conquest.

Before Fame

He studied economics in the U.S at Lawrence College and graduated in 1959. He returned to Mexico and began collaborating with his brothers after they launched Aurrerá in 1958. Their company would eventually grow into Grupo Cifra. He began supporting and funding the arts in the late 1960s into the 1970s. He and Grupo Cifra partnered with Wal-Mart in 1991, and in 1997 Wal-Mart took a majority stake and led to the development of Walmex.

Trivia

He was one of the first Mexicans to receive an Academy Award. His short film Sentinels of Silence remains the only short film to win two Academy Awards as of 2025, winning Best Documentary Short and Best Live Action Short at the 1972 Academy Awards. He speaks Spanish, English, and French.

Family Life

He was born in Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico. His older brothers Plácido and Jerónimo Arango co-founded the companies Aurrerá.

Associated With

Orson Welles served as the English-language narrator of Sentinels of Silence. Ricardo Montalban narrated the Spanish language version of Sentinels of Silence.