A striking figure in Portugal’s media sector, Miguel Paes do Amaral looks back on former times, shares his thoughts on the state of the nation and reveals the passions that drive him.

Miguel Paes do Amaral welcomes us, courteous as ever, in to his office in Amoreiras. We begin by recalling his childhood, spent in Mangualde until the age of eight. His recollections of this time in his life are few, apart from admitting to a normal childhood despite living in the family’s magnificent home in the town centre and being the son of a count, with the status this brings. He does say, though, that “at that age I had no concept of this status. All I was interested in was playing football and playing cowboys.” Friendships from this time dissolved as the years passed and with the move to Lisbon at the age of nine. Miguel went on to complete two years of his mechanical engineering degree in the city’s Science Faculty, before graduating from the Instituto Superior Técnico.

Following university Miguel never actually got to use his degree professionally, and admits that he is still at a loss as to why he chose the course in the first place. “It might have been because I was good at maths and physics and still wasn’t interested in economics and business.” Jokingly, he adds that his choice may also have been down to his obsession with cars.

His attraction for the business world first appeared after he had completed his studies and sat down to ponder the sort of life he envisaged for the future. Given the instability and lack of potential in Portugal at the time, he set his sights on an international executive career. He gained an MBA at INSEAD, and was then hired by Goldman Sachs as an investment specialist. Of his subsequent move to New York he recalls the shock he felt at the discipline and energy he encountered in investment banking there. The culture of professionalism placed Portugal in a very poor light, which until 1974 had a protected economy and was therefore relatively undisciplined. Beginning in one of the world’s four largest investment banks would prove a critical experience for Miguel - and in New York of all places - drastically shaping his future, especially in terms of the knowledge he acquired of the sector. If, for professional reasons, he had to live abroad today he wouldn’t hesitate for a moment, especially if this would mean moving to the USA, England or Switzerland, in this order of preference.

Given its proximity to the river and the sea, and its wealth of heritage, Miguel Paes do Amaral considers Lisbon to be one of Europe’s most beautiful capitals. Since Expo 98 he has noted significant improvements in the city, believing it better presented and looked after, even though its cultural portfolio is not as broad ranging as other capitals. “But it’s a small city and therefore the cultural programme reflects its size and the cultural makeup of the Portuguese population.”

His assessment of the country isn’t quite so positive. Despite the quantum leap in terms of quality if we compare Portugal of today with how it was in the ‘80s, Miguel believes “that we are far from where we should be if we compare ourselves, say, with the development Spain, Ireland or the Czech Republic underwent in the same period.” Highly critical of how the country has been governed during the last 20 years, he points the finger at the economic model followed, which he describes thus: “the concrete model, based on development at the cost of infrastructures and public works,” adding: “if we study successful economies we will see that this was not the model they followed.” The result is the absence of structural reforms and an economy that is hardly competitive when compared to Spain or Ireland.

Talking of recent years, our thoughts linger on one particular press title: O Independente, which marked the start of Miguel Paes do Amaral’s association with the media sector. It all happened by pure chance, when his friend Luís Nobre Guedes invited him to become a shareholder of the newspaper. “I didn’t see it as a business proposal, rather as an interesting project, engineered by people such as Paulo Portas and Miguel Esteves Cardoso, who were the best of the best in their generation in Portugal.” Later, his international connections helped him see that the media sector isn’t so much about power and influence, as he and many Portuguese had thought, but rather an interesting business proposal. This made him take a different view of Soci, the company that then owned O Independente. The rest is history, culminating in the creation of Media Capital, which owns various publications and radio stations, while its share in TVI, which it recently sold to Spanish giant Prisa. Miguel laments O Independente’s final demise, but finds that it was preferable to watching on as a strong newspaper, which has a major impact on society “becomes a paper with few pages, no quality and little impact.”

He believes Portugal’s media to be an interesting and healthy sector, with good professionals, well positioned to confront today’s challenges of growing digitalisation in distribution structures. Paes do Amaral was responsible for the sector’s consolidation - today Portugal’s two major media groups, Impresa and Media Capital share 50% of the nation’s advertising revenue. He sees the very recent launch of new weekly newspaper Sol as “an act of great courage by investors, at a time when analysts predict that newspapers will cease altogether within 20 to 30 years”.

Married with two daughters, one 18, the other 15, the pressure to successfully juggle family time with work time has now abated. My daughters hardly ever have time,” he says. Summer and winter holidays are spent en famille, as are two other trips, spent together at the same time every year.

His passion for cars and for the adrenalin-charged challenge of racing and competition often take him abroad to participate in three types of competitions: Le Mans Series, which follows the rules of the Le Mans 24 Hours, where he races in his famous Lola; the Spanish GT Championship, where he drives a Porsche; and more relaxed, less competitive classic car races, whenever free from more important races. Miguel is fanatical about everything connected to car racing. “Every aspect of racing, from preparing the car, to discussing race strategies the set up with engineers the whole catalogue of variables that determine the final result of a race excites me and relieves stress.” He is trying to take part in the Le Mans 24 Hours, if he is accepted that is, having to try his luck to gain one of the 55 places out of over 100 candidates.

Indeed, since relinquishing his executive role - he is now chairman and shareholder of Media Capital - Miguel finds he has more time to spend on his hobbies: cars, hunting (he’s stopped big game hunting in Africa and now concentrates on partridge hunting), skiing and sailing. He is also an avid collector, in particular paintings and vintage cars. Asked as to possible future projects that take his fancy he cites the Lisbon-Dakar rally, which given the time involved (three weeks), he has yet to entertain. “There aren’t that many things that I’d like to do, which I haven’t yet done. In general, when I want to do something I do it. I’ve been lucky in that way. Now that I’ve got more time and the budget I need, maybe I’ll consider the Lisbon-Dakar.”

Future plans a plenty are joined by a wealth of possible business opportunities. “I’d like to create a simple structure that allows me to invest in projects, in Portugal or abroad in various sectors, such as finance, real estate or IT,” explains Miguel. But that’s all he says. After all, the best opportunities are the ones you keep quiet about.