Claudio Osorio, co-Founder, chairman and chief executive officer of InnoVida Holdings, LLC spoke to students from Barry University's D. Inez Andreas School of Business at an Inside the Actor’s Studio style forum that addressed the importance of building competitive advantages in international markets.
Osorio is the second guest in the Executive Leadership Forum which was created to serve as a venue for sharing practical business knowledge.
In 1977, Osorio founded a sporting goods and wholesale company in his hometown, Caracas, Venezuela. After successfully selling his company, his vision turned toward the computer industry and led him to start CHS Electronics, Inc in 1983. As chairman and chief executive officer, Osorio led his company to become the third largest computer distribution company in the world, with revenues of $8.7 billion. In 1997, CHS was ranked No. 189 of the Fortune 500.
Osorio successfully executed a preliminary public offering of $74 million in 1996, a secondary public offering of $474 million in the spring of 1997 (the largest ever by a Hispanic company) and a $200 million bond offering in 1998.
In 1999, Osorio founded an enterprise software company, Open First Inc and developed supply chain visibility tools for the computer industry. In 2000, he joined i2 Technologies as the executive vice president and was a member of i2’s Board of Directors. In 2004, he co-founded InnoVida Holdings, LLC, http://www.innovida.com/ a global corporation with current operations in the USA, Germany, Middle East, Africa, India and South America.
Osorio’s accomplishments have been recognized by World Trade Magazine - Top 20 U.S. Business Visionaries (1997); by CRN – Top 25 Executives in the computer industry (1998); and by the U.S. Hispanic Association - CEO of the largest Hispanic Business in the U.S. (1999).
In addition to his extensive experience in start-ups and international markets, Osorio and his wife, Amarilis, have been actively involved in different philanthropic activities domestically and internationally. They have funded and operated orphanages and day care centers in Russia, Uganda, Venezuela and Dominican Republic. Locally, they are involved with Community Partnership for the Homeless, Big Brothers Big Sisters, The Gloria Estefan Foundation, Miami Country Day School, and the Andreas School of Business at Barry University.