Piñera was elected president on ­Sunday, beating a former leftwing president, ­Eduardo Frei, and thereby ending a 20-year rule by La Concertación, the centre-left coalition which ousted Pinochet. Running with a slogan of Join up for a Change, Piñera capitalised on a widespread conviction that the government was being run by a cadre of political hacks.

The outgoing president, Michelle Bachelet, a hugely popular Socialist, phoned Piñera on Sunday night to congratulate him. In a continuation of Chilean tradition, the two had breakfast to discuss the transition. "This is just the beginning. Today we have to deliver on pledges and live up to the hopes of millions of men and women," Piñera said.

Bachelet, Chile's first woman president, was banned by law from standing for re-election until someone else has had a term; she maintains an approval rating of 81%, and is expected to stand in 2014.

Piñera is seen as a moderate rightwinger, closer on the spectrum to New York mayor Michael Bloomberg than Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. As leader of the party Renovación Nacional, he was among the first rightwing politicians to openly break with the Pinochet dictatorship.

A recent Piñera TV advert included positive mention of gay couples, which ignited huge protests from his coalition partner, the far right UDI, Chile's most powerful single political party.

Last week, Mario Vargas Llosa, the acclaimed Colombian writer, travelled to Chile to endorse Piñera's version of progressive culture and conservative politics.

'What would I like to be remembered for?" said Piñera in an interview from his office in Santiago. "Do I want my children and grandchildren to remember me for making one more million? No!... And I decided – 20 years ago – to start doing things that are not traditional, not for money."

Like Bloomberg, Piñera has spent millions of his own money on projects: a fleet of buses to give free museum trips for poor children, a massive campaign to upgrade football stadiums, and a multiyear effort to preserve a virgin rainforest on the island of Chiloe off south Chile. Known as Parque Tantauco, the massive rainforest is Piñera's passion. He frequently flies his helicopter up and over the park and regularly invites the ruling elite to camp and explore there.

Yesterday, Chilean shares were buoyed by news of the win but investors are also watching to see if Piñera would fulfil a pledge to sell off his more than 25% stake in flagship airline LAN, one of the region's leading carriers, as well as other assets, to avoid conflict of interest in his new role.

Piñera's success was partly due to his ability to woo young voters. At the victory celebration on Sunday night in Santiago, Piñera's son, Christobal, 26, said: "We are a young country, with incredible entrepreneurial talents. The average age of government appointees is, like, 54 years old. I consider that an insult to an entire generation. We [young adults] have a huge sector of the population who have not been represented in government. This is a victory that represents the future for all of Chile."

Frei, who was president from 1994-2000, lost the election with a disastrous campaign in which infighting was barely under control. While the public watched the soap opera-style disputes from the Frei campaign, Piñera's campaign zeroed in on a major gripe – the lack of access to opportunity, especially in business. With speeches and TV spots focused on the entrepreneurial potential of Chile, Piñera was able to tap into a sense that his government would be more modern, more agile and less corrupt.