Ex-Mota-Engil boss dies at 71

António Mota, the man who developed a modest civil engineering and construction firm in Amarante in the north of Portugal and turned it into a multinational construction giant spanning three continents, has died at the age of 71.

In a communiqué, the largest construction company to have ever come out of Portugal emphasised the importance of the “historic president” of Mota-Engil who headed the company from 1995-2023.

Mota-Engil stated: “today (Mota-Engil) has lost a remarkable figure in its history to whom it owes much for what it has become today – a multinational group, recognised for the quality of its engineering, and managed with a high commitment to each client and partner, in which a word is enough to honour commitments, and a leadership very much supported by the values that he transmitted to everyone; values that we must honour and continue”.

The civil engineer led the company founded by his  father in 1946 for 27 years, guiding its rise to a multinational group present in 20 countries and in different activity sectors.

António Manuel Queirós Vasconcelos da Mota was born in 1954 in Amarante, where he lived until he was 15 years old. Son of Manuel António da Mota and Maria Amália Guedes Queiroz de Vasconcelos, he graduated in Civil Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto.

He began his career in 1976 at Mota & Companhia, a company founded by his father in 1946. In 1981, he became General Manager and from 1987 he took on the position of Executive Vice President, until he succeeded his father in 1995, becoming the company’s president. With the merger of the Mota and Engil groups in 2000, he became Executive Chairman of Mota-Engil SGPS.

“A charismatic leader, visionary entrepreneur and man of enormous humanity, Engineer António Mota was a great example for his ability to inspire teams, creating close relationships based on respect with the different generations he welcomed into the company, and which made each one feel like an integral part of the Great Family that is Mota-Engil,” Mota-Engil said in the statement.

The group, now led by his nephew Carlos Mota Santos, who became executive chairman in 2023, invokes António Mota’s “strategic vision and the dedication of a lifetime to a legacy he had received from his uncle” reads the company obituary.