MercadoLibre Announces CFO Transition Amid ‘New Phase of Growth’

MercadoLibre has appointed a senior vice president, Martín de los Santos, as its new chief financial officer (CFO).

He succeeds Pedro Arnt, who left to pursue new opportunities outside the company, the eCommerce and digital financial services firm with operations in 18 Latin American countries said in a Thursday (Aug. 10) press release.

de los Santos joined MercadoLibre in 2008 and has served in various positions, most recently as senior vice president of the credits division, according to the release. He launched that business unit and has scaled it over the last seven years.

Before joining MercadoLibre, de los Santos served as CFO of gaming company Vostu and in various roles at Impsa, Goldman Sachs and McKinsey.

MercadeoLibre CEO Marcos Galperin said in the release that de los Santos is an accomplished leader with a track record of “driving transformational strategies.”

“He has solid experience leading new business development, strategic planning and oversight of investor relations,” Galperin said in the release. “I am confident that his background and strong financial acumen make him the right leader to continue furthering MercadoLibre’s strong growth and achieve our financial goals long term.”

Andrés Anavi, who joined the company in 2021 and most recently served as senior vice president of Mercado Pago, has taken over de los Santos’ former role, according to the release.

MercadoLibre announced Aug. 2 that it achieved record growth in the second quarter, driven primarily by sales growth and cost efficiencies. In recent developments, the firm expanded its consumer credit offerings in Mexico; added extended warranty products to its insurance solutions; and said it plans to expand its cross-border operations in Brazil.

“Rapid top-line growth and strong margin expansion were broad-based across geographies and business units, showing the strengths of our business and the potential of our financial model as we continue to gain,” Arnt said at the time.

In April, MercadoLibre announced plans to add 13,000 jobs this year, focusing on logistics operations in Brazil and Mexico, as well as the Argentinian company’s tech and product teams.