Guerrillas killed Eugenio Garza Sada in a kidnapping attempt in 1973, and his family split the Monterrey Group into four

Eugenio Garza Sada led the Monterrey Group, the industrial holdings of the extended Garza Sada family, and founded the Tecnológico de Monterrey in 1943. At 9:05 on 17 September 1973 a six-member commando of the Liga Comunista 23 de Septiembre stopped his car at the corner of Villagrán and Luis Quintanar in Monterrey. The group planned to hold him for a ransom of 5 million pesos and the release of jailed comrades. His bodyguards fired back. Garza Sada, 81, was mortally wounded. His driver Bernardo Chapa Pérez, his bodyguard Modesto Torres Briones and two of the attackers also died. After his death the family empire broke into four parts. A family member told The New York Times there was no falling out, but "there was a real problem as to who would be next 'supreme.'" The family moved shares among its branches and divided the group. The largest part, Alfa, went to Bernardo Garza Sada and expanded into petrochemicals, fibres, machinery and television sets. In 1982 Alfa lost $233 million and stopped paying its debts. In 1986 its banks forgave $920 million in return for 45 percent of its stock. The Liga's first leader was captured in 1974 and disappeared.