In this article, we will look at the 30 Wealthiest People in Brazil.
Brazil’s Economy: An Analysis
Brazil is one of the largest countries in Latin America, with a GDP of $2.17 trillion and a population of 216 million as of 2023, according to the World Bank. The country has high international reserves, low external debt, and a stable financial system with exchange rate flexibility. All these factors have helped Brazil become a leading economy in South America. As of 2024, the government has been working towards indirect tax reforms, which will make it easier to do both local and international business due to tax simplification, according to BDO Global.
The country’s economy saw real GDP growth of 2.9% in 2023, as recorded by the World Bank, driven by high private consumption, low unemployment, and governmental financial assistance to low-income groups. However, growth is expected to fall to 2.5% in 2024. The monetary tightening by the central bank has also lowered growth expectations. On June 20, Brazil’s central bank gave its interest rate decision and kept rates unchanged at 10.5%, as reported by the Anadolu Agency. The main reason behind this policy is the uncertain global environment and persistent inflationary pressures.
On May 16, Reuters reported that Brazil’s Finance Ministry raised its growth estimates for 2024 and 2025 to 2.5% and 2.8%, respectively. However, the Finance Ministry also raised inflation expectations to 3.7% in 2024 and 3.2% in 2025, due to floods in the Rio Grande do Sul state. According to UNICEF, the flood from May 4 was the biggest flood that River Guaíba had seen since 1941. These inflation estimates were later changed to 4% for 2024 and 3.4% for 2025 by Copom, the Monetary Policy Committee of the central bank.
Key economic drivers for Brazil have been the agriculture and mining sectors. According to the World Bank the manufacturing and services sector of the country has been stagnant for the past 2 decades, however, the agriculture sector has been growing comparatively due to government support and investments.
One of the Largest Companies in Brazil
The energy sector is one of the top drivers of the economy of Brazil and the country is among the top 10 oil producers in the world. Brazil has large offshore reserves of petroleum and natural gas, and its state-owned energy company Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE:PBR) is a top contributor.
On July 2, The Brazilian National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) reported that as of May 2024, the total production of oil and natural gas was held at 4.234 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d). Oil production alone was 3.318 million barrels per day (bbl/d), which showed a 3.9% month-over-month increase and a 3.6% year-over-year increase.
As of May 2024, offshore fields produced 97.5% of the total oil. 88.88% of these oil fields were operated by Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE:PBR). Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE:PBR) is the national company responsible for most of the country’s exploration, production, and distribution of oil and gas. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the state-owned company will produce about 50% of the world’s offshore oil by 2040, which is about 5.2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.
However, Bloomberg on June 22 reported a sharp drop in Brazil’s oil production, in line with a reduced global supply due to some maintenance issues. Oil production declined in early 2024 from 3.73 million barrels per day to around 2.8 million barrels per day. Despite such a drop, Brazil’s production is expected to recover and add to the market supply so significantly that eventually OPEC will face challenges to control prices and supply as a cartel. This indicates the importance of Brazil’s oil production both for the local and global economy.
The company is also taking several initiatives to move towards sustainability. Between 2015 and 2022, Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE:PBR) reduced its absolute emissions by 39%, becoming one of the global companies with the lowest greenhouse gas emissions. The pre-salt layer in the company’s oil fields produces some of the most decarbonized oil globally, and it is expected to represent 79% of the total production by 2028. This is especially important because pre-salt in Brazil holds a large amount of untapped oil.
Currently, the CO₂ emissions are 70% lower for Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE:PBR) as compared to the world average. By 2028, the company plans to invest $3.9 billion in decarbonization initiatives as it works to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, as established by the Paris Agreement.
On March 25, Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE:PBR) reported that it acquired international certificates (I-REC) guaranteeing that all electricity used in its operations comes from renewable sources. The certificates cover 100% of their electricity consumption, provided by external suppliers. However, some of the electricity consumed also comes from the company’s production, for which the renewable energy generation capacity is expected to see a 50% increase by 2030.
On April 26, the Oil & Gas Journal reported that Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE:PBR) approved the installation of solar farms at three of its Brazilian refineries to assist the achievement of net-zero emissions across its operations. The company is also to invest $0.7 billion in research and development of natural hydrogen exploration by 2028.
30 Wealthiest People in Brazil
Our Methodology
To compile our list of the 30 wealthiest people in Brazil, we consulted the real-time billionaires data from Forbes and ranked the wealthiest people in Brazil in ascending order of their net worths, as of June 28.
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30 Wealthiest People in Brazil
30. Neide Helena de Moraes
Net Worth as of June 28: $1.3B
Neide Helena de Moraes inherited an 8% stake in Votorantim, an industrial conglomerate, after her father died in 2001. The company was founded by her grandmother in 2018. It has now expanded to over 20 countries.
29. Daniel Feffer
Net Worth as of June 28: $1.3B
Daniel Feffer, along with his three brothers, controls a firm by the name Suzano, which was founded in 1924 by their grandfather. He is the chairman of the Brazilian branch of the International Chamber of Commerce. Feffer is a big advocate of open markets and he founded the Intelligent Tech & Trade Initiative, which is a project focused on how technologies such as AI and blockchain can improve international trade negotiations.
28. David Feffer
Net Worth as of June 28: $1.4B
David Feffer also inherited shares in Suzano. Both David and Daniel are also board members of the company. David is also the president of Suzano’s board of directors and has taken care of the family’s investments since 2003.
27. Rubens Ometto Silveira Mello
Net Worth as of June 28: $1.4B
Rubens Ometto Silveira Mello became the world’s first ethanol billionaire in 2007. His company, by the name of Cosan, started its establishment back in 1936, with his grandparents building a sugarcane mill in Sao Paulo. Cosan eventually became one of the world’s largest producers of sugarcane and ethanol. Ometto is also a real estate investor.
26. Sasson Dayan & family
Net Worth as of June 28: $1.6B
Sasson Dayan founded Banco Daycoval in 1968. Shortly after, he became one of Brazil’s biggest lenders to small and mid-sized businesses. He transferred his company shares to his sons in 2015 but remains the president of the bank’s board.
25. Carlos Sanchez
Net Worth as of June 28: $1.6B
Carlos Sanchez owns and runs EMS S.A., a generic drug firm founded by his late father, Emiliano, in 1950. He owns about 75% of the company.
24. Ana Lucia de Mattos Barretto Villela
Net Worth as of June 28: $1.6B
Ana Lucia de Mattos Barretto Villela is a member of one of Brazil’s oldest banking families as her great-grandfather founded Itau, which merged with Unibanco in 2008 to form Itau-Unibanco. Her grandfather founded Duratex, so she is also a shareholder there. As for the bank, she is now one of the largest individual shareholders of Itausa, and also the vice chairwoman of their board of directors.
23. Cristina Junqueira
Net Worth as of June 28: $1.6B
At 30 years old in 2013, Cristina Junqueira co-founded Brazil-based Nubank, of which she owns about 3%. Before that, she ran Itaú’s largest credit card division. She’s a trained engineer with an MBA.
22. Jayme Garfinkel & family
Net Worth as of June 28: $1.7B
Garfinkel is the largest individual shareholder of the insurance company Porto Seguro. He was only 26 when his family bought the small company in 1972. He then took a position in the business in 1978, six years after the company acquired Porto Seguro.
21. Guilherme Benchimol
Net Worth as of June 28: $1.7B
He is a well-known investor and the founder of XP Inc., which gained popularity through products and services for clients with little investing experience. Benchimol founded XP in 2001 after being fired from a brokerage firm. He aims to offer free education to 50 million Brazilians over the next 10 years through his company. However, he resigned as the CEO in 2021 and is only its chairman now.
20. Alfredo Egydio Arruda Villela Filho
Net Worth as of June 28: $1.8B
Alfredo Egydio de Arruda Villela Filho is the great-grandson of the founder of bank Itau, which merged with Unibanco later in 2008 to form Itau-Unibanco. His grandfather founded Dexco and he owns stakes there. He is the executive vice president of Itausa, where he is also the largest individual shareholder.
19. Rubens Menin Teixeira de Souza
Net Worth as of June 28: $1.8B
Rubens Menin Teixeira de Souza founded the MRV Engenharia in 1979 and turned it into Brazil’s leading home builder. Menin started the company in Minas Gerais but expanded to Brazil’s southern states later on. He is also the founder of the bank Banco Inter in 2018. In 2019, he launched CNN Brasil. Menin also sponsors F1 racer Bruno Senna and launched his tennis tournament formerly in Brazil as well.
18. Edir Macedo & family
Net Worth as of June 28: $1.8B
Edir Macedo, other than being an evangelical bishop, is also the owner of Record, the broadcasting company. He founded the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God in 1977, which now has branches in over 100 countries. He also owns a majority stake in the private Brazilian bank Banco Digimais.
17. Roberto Irineu Marinho
Net Worth as of June 28: $1.8B
Roberto Irineu Marinho inherited control of Globo, Brazil’s largest media group. It was started by his grandfather, Irineu Marinho, in 1925 by launching a newspaper. But in December 2017, he quit as the executive president of the group, and so the first-ever non-family member assumed that position. He is however still the vice-president of the board of directors.
16. Ilson Mateus & family
Net Worth as of June 28: $1.8B
Ilson Mateus was formerly a gold miner but then later built up the supermarket chain Mateus and took it public in October 2020. The company is controlled by Mateus and his ex-wife, Maria Barros Pinheiro. Mateus operates more than 200 stores and had revenues of $4.1 billion in 2022.
15. Joao Roberto Marinho
Net Worth as of June 28: $1.9B
Joao Roberto Marinho also inherited the control of Globo, as he is the brother of Roberto Irineu Marinho. He is now the executive president of Globo and the chairman of the board of directors.
14. Jose Roberto Marinho
Net Worth as of June 28: $1.9B
Jose Roberto Marinho inherited control of Globo too. In 1991, Jose Roberto founded CBN. He is also a philanthropist operating through the Roberto Marinho Foundation.
13. Luiz Frias
Net Worth as of June 28: $1.9B
Luiz Frias is the chairman of PagSeguro Digital. The company went public on NYSE in 2018, raising over $2 billion. His father also acquired a popular Brazilian newspaper in the 1960s, known now as Folha de S. Paulo. In 1996, he founded UOL, an Internet company, which also has a subsidiary by the name PagSeguro Digital. He’s a well-established journalist and entrepreneur.
12. Candido Pinheiro Koren de Lima & family
Net Worth as of June 28: $2.1B
Candido Pinheiro Koren de Lima is an oncologist who saved money from his medical practice to launch a hospital in 1986 in the Brazilian city of Fortaleza. He added more hospitals, health clinics, and health insurance, and created Grupo Hapvida resultantly. The company has 25 hospitals as of now.
11. Luciano Hang
Net Worth as of June 28: $2.1B
Brazil’s Luciano Hang has found success with department store chain Havan by focusing heavily on physical stores rather than online sales. Luciano Hang co-founded Havan in 1986, where he focused on physical stores rather than online sales, and succeeded greatly in doing so. He owns almost all of Havan today, which generated an annual revenue of $1.9 billion in 2020.
10. Joao Moreira Salles
Net Worth as of June 28: $4.7B
Joao Moreira Salles is also the son of Walther Moreira Salles and so a member of one of Brazil’s oldest banking families. He owns stakes in CBMM too. However, he has also made his name professionally as a Brazilian documentary filmmaker.
9. Miguel Krigsner
Net Worth as of June 28: $5.1B
Miguel Krigsner is the founder of Grupo Boticario, Brazil’s second-largest cosmetics company. This company operates in over 50 countries and Krigsner owns about 80% of it. He is now the president of the Grupo Boticario advisory board.
8. Andre Esteves
Net Worth as of June 28: $5.5B
Andre Esteves only started as an intern at a Brazilian investment bank called Pactual but eventually acquired control of the bank. Esteves then sold Pactualin 2006 to Swiss banking giant UBS for $3.1 billion, forming a subsidiary UBS Pactual. In 2009 he helped with the sale of UBS Pactual to the investment firm BTG. From there on he became chairman of the board and CEO of this new firm.
7. Pedro Moreira Salles
Net Worth as of June 28: $6.2B
Pedro Moreira Salles is a member of one of Brazil’s oldest banking families as he is the son of Walther Moreira Salles, the founder of Unibanco, as well as a former ambassador to the United States. He owns stakes in CBMM. He is the co-president of Cambuhy, a private equity firm he founded in 2011.
6. Fernando Roberto Moreira Salles
Net Worth as of June 28: $6.6B
Fernando Roberto Moreira Salles is also the son of Walther Moreira Salles, and so Moreira Salles is a member of one of Brazil’s oldest banking families. He also owns stakes in CBMM, a Brazilian company that specializes in the mineral niobium.
5. Carlos Alberto Sicupira & family
Net Worth as of June 28: $8.3B
Most of Carlos Alberto Sicupira’s wealth comes from his Anheuser-Busch InBev shares, where he owns about a 3% stake. He also owns stakes in Restaurant Brands International, the parent company of Burger King and Tim Hortons.