Daniel González, the executive who went from investment banking to the top of YPF
Daniel González, de la banca de inversión a la conducción de YPF y al equipo económico.
From Cardenal Newman school to the general management of the oil company and a position on the economic team, his career spans three decades across finance, energy and business representation.
Daniel González built one of the most extensive careers at the intersection of corporate finance and energy in Argentina. He holds a degree in Business Administration from Universidad Católica Argentina (UCA) and graduated from Cardenal Newman school. He is currently Coordinating Secretary of Energy and Mining at the Ministry of Economy led by Luis Caputo, after having served as chief financial officer and later as the top executive of YPF. In between, he spent fifteen years in international investment banking and led the country’s main business forum.
From Transportadora Gas del Sur to international banking
González took his first professional steps in the 1990s at Transportadora Gas del Sur (TGS), where he worked on the company’s financial placements. That performance caught the attention of Guillermo “Willy” Reca, who recruited him for Merrill Lynch. He remained there for fifteen years, a period that continued when the bank was absorbed by Bank of America, with a focus on investment banking and mergers and acquisitions both in Argentina and abroad.
That specialization in M&A and investor relations defined the profile with which he would later enter the energy industry. The headhunting firm Egon Zehnder invited him to join YPF at a turning point for the company.
Daniel González’s mark on YPF
In May 2012, González took over as executive vice president of finance, or CFO, of YPF, at the start of Miguel Galuccio’s administration and after the company’s renationalization. The immediate challenge was financial: with him in that role, the oil company returned to international markets and raised around $3.5 billion in a context in which its controlling shareholder, the Argentine state, was going through a technical default. At the beginning of Mauricio Macri’s government, it added another $1 billion, and González took part in joint venture and acquisition negotiations during those years.
In his final stage as CFO, he also became responsible for affiliated companies and joined the Executive Committee, the firm’s highest decision-making body. He also served as interim CEO before and after Ricardo Darré’s brief tenure, until in April 2018 the board chaired by Miguel Gutiérrez confirmed him as general manager.
IDEA and the move into public administration
Since 2021, González has been executive director of the Instituto para el Desarrollo Empresarial de la Argentina (IDEA), the organization that brings together a large part of the country’s economic and business establishment through its traditional colloquiums. That position kept him as a visible voice of the private sector in the years leading up to his return to public office.
In July 2024, he joined the Ministry of Economy as coordinating vice minister of Energy and Mining, within a restructuring of the economic cabinet that placed three coordination areas under Caputo’s authority. The Secretary of Energy, Eduardo Rodríguez Chirillo, and the Secretary of Mining, Luis Lucero, remained in their positions. His knowledge of the industry’s network of actors, gained while leading the state-controlled oil company, was the central argument behind his appointment.
A River Plate fan, González brings together in his career the three credentials that explain his current role: financial training, operational experience at the head of the country’s largest energy company and coordination with the business world. His immediate agenda focuses on coordinating energy and mining policies and representing Argentina in international sector forums, where he also heads the committee of the Incentive Regime for Large Investments.
