Maximo Alvarez| Sunshine Gasoline Distributors, Inc, Bio, Wife and Children
Maximo Alvarez is a Cuban-American entrepreneur and philanthropist, best known as the founder and president of Sunshine Gasoline Distributors, Inc., one of Florida’s largest independent fuel distribution companies.
Maximo Alvarez Early Life and Education
Born on June 10, 1948, in Havana, Cuba, to Spanish immigrant parents, Alvarez immigrated to the United States at age 13 as part of Operation Pedro Pan, a program that relocated over 14,000 unaccompanied Cuban minors to the U.S. to escape the Castro regime. He initially resided in a children’s welfare home under the care of Monsignor Bryan O. Walsh. Alvarez completed high school at La Salle High School in Miami, graduating in 1965. He then attended Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina before transferring to Florida State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1969 and a master’s degree in 1970.
Maximo Alvarez|Â Sunshine Gasoline Distributors
Alvarez began his career in the oil industry with Cities Services Oil Company (CITGO Petroleum) from 1971 to 1973, followed by a stint at Mobil Oil Corporation as a marketing representative. In 1976, he ventured into entrepreneurship by establishing Sunshine Citrus Corp., a citrus gift packing and shipping enterprise. In 1987, after relocating due to the expansion of I-595, he purchased four underperforming gas stations from Southland Corp (7-Eleven), laying the foundation for Sunshine Gasoline Distributors, Inc. ​
Under his leadership, Sunshine Gasoline expanded significantly, operating over 300 locations and supplying an additional 250 branded retail facilities, including Chevron, BP, Shell, Citgo, Marathon, and Exxon/Mobil. The company has become one of the largest independent branded suppliers in the Southeastern United States.
Maximo Alvarez Wife| Children
Maximo Alvarez has been married to Esther Lucrecia since 1976. The couple has three children: Sandra, Maximo Ricardo, and Eduardo. Sandra and Maximo Ricardo are involved in the family business, while Eduardo pursued a career as a mechanical engineer. The family resides in Miami, Florida. ​
Philanthropy and Community Involvement
Alvarez is deeply committed to philanthropy and community service. He has been involved with various organizations, including serving as a trustee of the Pedro Pan Group, a nonprofit supporting immigrant children. In 2023, the Alvarez family announced a significant donation to Christopher Columbus High School in Miami for the renovation of the school’s main entrance and “A” Building. ​
He has also been active in industry associations, serving as Chairman of the Board of the Florida Petroleum Marketers Association in 2000 and being inducted into its Hall of Fame in 2005.
Maximo Alvarez Net Worth
While exact figures are not publicly disclosed, Alvarez’s net worth is estimated to be in the range of several hundred million dollars, given the scale and success of Sunshine Gasoline Distributors. The company supplies over 500 gas stations and controls more than 350 of them.
Height
Specific details about Maximo Alvarez’s height and other physical attributes are not publicly available.
Maximo Alvarez| Nationality| RNC speech
Alvarez is a naturalized American citizen and has been active in political circles. He gained national attention for his speech at the 2020 Republican National Convention, where he spoke about his experiences fleeing communism and warned against the dangers of socialist policies.
Here is the text of his speech:
“My name is Maximo Alvarez. I’m speaking to you today from my home in South Florida ——-not far from the Straits of Florida — which isn’t just a 90-mile wide blue strip on a map for me. It divides freedom ——from fear. It divides the past —–from the future.
I know all about the past—I’ll never forget my own. My family has fled totalitarianism and communism. And more than once. First from Spain, then from Cuba.
But my family is done leaving. By the grace of God, I have lived the American dream—the greatest blessing I’ve ever had. My dad, who only had a sixth-grade education told me, “don’t lose this place. You’ll never be as lucky as me.”
I’m speaking to you today because my family is done leaving places. There is nowhere left to go.
I’m speaking to you today because President Trump may not always care about being polite —-but all the far left cares about is power. Power for them —— not for us.
I’m speaking to you today because I’ve seen people like this before. I’ve seen movements like this before. I’ve seen ideas like this before and I’m here to tell you, we cannot let them take over our country.
I heard the promises of Fidel Castro. And I can never forget all those who grew up around me, who looked like me, who could have been me, who suffered and starved and died because they believed those empty promises.
Go to Freedom Tower in Miami. Stop to listen and you can still hear the sound of those promises being broken. It is the sound of waves in the ocean, carrying families clinging to pieces of wood, families with children who can’t swim, but willing to risk everything to reach this blessed land. It is the sound of tears hitting the paper of an application for American citizenship.
They heard the empty promises and they know the reality. Look at them. Listen to them. Learn the truth. Those false promises—spread the wealth, defund the police, trust a socialist state more than your family and community— don’t sound radical to my ears. They sound familiar.
When Fidel Castro was asked if he was a communist, he said he was a Roman Catholic——– He knew he had to hide the truth. But the country I was born in is gone – destroyed. When I watch the news in Seattle and Chicago and Portland, when I see history being rewritten, when I hear the promises—I hear echoes of a former life I never wanted to hear again. I see shadows I thought I had outrun.
My parents only wanted one person to decide my fate—me. Not some party member, not some government official, not some bureaucrat —– in America, I would decide my own future.
I am so grateful to America, the place where I was able to build my American dream through hard work and determination. President Trump knows that the American story was written by people just like you and me, who love our country and take risks to build a future for our families and neighbors.
I may be Cuban born, but I am 100 percent American. This is the greatest country in the world. If I gave away everything I have today, it would not equal 1 percent of what I was given when I came to this great country: The gift of Freedom.
Right now – It is up to us to decide our fate and to choose freedom over oppression.
President Trump is fighting against the forces of socialism, communism, and totalitarianism. And he will continue to do just that. And what about his opponent and the rest of the DC swamp? I have no doubt they will hand the country over to those dangerous forces.
You and I will decide. And here is what I’ve decided: I choose President Trump because I choose America.”
