8 QUESTIONS WITH CARLOS TAPIA
Where is your hometown?
Madrid, Spain
And what are your favorite places in Madrid?
I love the museums (the Prado, Reina Sofía, Sorolla, Fundación March) and the restaurants of old Madrid (Hijos de Botin, Lucio, La Bola.) I also enjoy the city’s parks during the autumn and winter.
The books on your bedside table?
I have been reading again “The Rational Optimist. How Prosperity Evolved,” by Matt Ridley.
Your favorite quote?
“In order to govern, the question is not to follow out a more or less valid theory but to build with whatever materials are at hand. The inevitable must be accepted and turned to advantage.” (Napoleon Bonaparte)
What do you wish someone has told you when you were a student?
Life is harder than you think it is when you are young, so you’d better make a well use of your time.
How do you relax?
I will tell you when I retire, because I can’t relax just yet.
What is the most valuable, yet underrated skill in business?
Honesty.
What do you teach?
Corporate Finance, Valuation, Alternative Finance, Financial Modeling, and Financial Management in programs including the EMBA, MIM, the MIF and MIAF, and Executive Education.
Professor Carlos Tapia was photographed in Kasoa, Ghana by Kerry Parke during IE Business School’s Financieros sin Fronteras program (November, 2012.)