Manuel Lao Hernández Net Worth

Manuel Lao Hernández has an estimated net worth of $2.1 billion, according to Forbes Real-Time Billionaires, Manuel Lao Hernández profile (figures as of October 20, 2026). That is up from $1.6 billion in 2019.

Manuel Lao Hernández is a Spanish entrepreneur and the founder of Cirsa, which became Spain's largest casino and gaming company. He was born in 1944 in Almería, in southern Spain. He built his company from scratch and turned it into one of the best known family firms in Spanish gaming, with all three of his children working inside it.

He is married with three children and lives in Matadepera, a town near Barcelona. All three of his children worked in the family business, which was based just outside Barcelona. Away from business, he has an unusual hobby for a casino magnate: he grows bonsai trees.

He gives back through the Manuel Lao Foundation, which promotes international cooperation projects in places such as Uganda, Malawi, India and Gaza, along with health and social integration programs in Spain. The foundation reflects his long interest in development and humanitarian causes beyond his business career, with projects that range from basic health care abroad to support for vulnerable people at home.

How Manuel Lao Hernández made his money

Lao started Cirsa in 1978. The company grew into a multinational casino operator, and he expanded it to nine countries in Latin America and Europe. For decades it was one of the most recognizable names in Spanish gaming. Its headquarters stayed just outside Barcelona throughout that expansion.

In 2018 he sold Cirsa to private equity firm Blackstone in a deal Forbes estimated at $2.6 billion including debt, although he kept Cirsa's operations in Argentina. With the proceeds he turned to investing. Through his investment firm, Nortia, he now holds interests in infrastructure, real estate, and leisure and entertainment businesses. Because his fortune is now spread across private holdings, Forbes estimates it from the value of those assets and his remaining gaming business.

How Forbes has valued Manuel Lao Hernández

Forbes put Lao's net worth at $1.6 billion in 2019. It dipped to $1.4 billion in 2020, returned to $1.6 billion in 2021 and was $1.5 billion in 2022. In 2023 it fell to $1.1 billion, its lowest recent level.

His figure then recovered to $1.3 billion in 2024 and $1.6 billion in 2025, and it climbed to $2.1 billion on the 2026 World's Billionaires List. As of October 20, 2026, the Forbes real-time billionaires tracker also showed $2.1 billion, the highest figure of his recent record.