Julio Ponce Lerou

Julio Ponce Lerou is a Chilean billionaire who is the principal shareholder of Soquimich. He is a former son-in-law of Augusto Pinochet. Until 1982 he was president of Chilean state-owned forestry company Complejo Forestal y Maderero Panguipulli while he was simultaneously president of CELCO, a wood pulp company.

Ponce is currently accused of a millionaire fraud and embezzlement that affects the pension funds of millions of Chilean citizens under what is known as the "Cascadas" case.

In his youth, he attended the University of Concepción, where studied medicine for a year. Then, he finished his Bachelor of Arts at the University of Chile.