Santander, founded by Royal Decree in 1857, has been run by the Botins for four generations. Its style has long been to move swiftly when needed, said Mauro Guillen, a management professor at Wharton School in Pennsylvania, who has written a book on Santander’s development into a global bank. "The bank is always very nimble when it comes to making bold decisions,” he said, adding that in a rapidly changing environment, this made it popular with investors. But the way Orcel's appointment was handled shows Santander’s speediness does not always pay off. "If the bank wants to hire, not just a CEO but top executives, a lot of people may think twice” in the wake of the Orcel debacle.

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/santander-orcel-breakup/