
Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete spent much of his nearly eight years as chairman of Telefonica SA trying to move beyond the carrier’s reputation for being cozy with Spanish political interests. Now the government may become his biggest shareholder.
Spain announced a plan on Tuesday to buy as much as 10% of Telefonica — a stake worth some €2 billion ($2.2 billion) — in a move that the government says is about providing shareholder stability.











