Born into an affluent Jewish Brazilian family, Eduardo Saverin co-founded Facebook with his Harvard roommate Mark Zuckerberg and others in 2004. He was later involved in a lawsuit against Zuckerberg. He also renounced his U.S. citizenship and moved to Singapore, which some believe was his excuse to avoid paying taxes.
Xuxa is a Brazilian TV host, film actress, singer, and businesswoman. She began her professional career as a model and soon started doing acting gigs as well. She became a superstar in the 1980s and her TV shows were broadcast in Portuguese, English, and Spanish worldwide. She is also a successful businesswoman with a net worth estimated at US$400 million.
Jorge Paulo Lemann is a Brazilian billionaire businessman and investment banker. Lemann is credited with co-founding 3G Capital, a Brazilian investment firm, which owns brands like Anheuser-Busch, Burger King, and Heinz. In 2019, Jorge Paulo Lemann was named the world's 37th richest person by Forbes magazine, thanks to his net worth of 24.6 billion US dollars.
Brazilian-born Dutch-American David Neeleman has redefined the low-cost commercial airline industry with his five airline brands, including JetBlue and Breeze Airways. A university drop-out, Neeleman had started his career as a freelance travel agent, selling package stays in Hawaii, and had then become an airline entrepreneur at 25.
Edmond Safra was a Lebanese Brazilian banker. His father was a prominent banker, and he began his career working at his father’s bank. He was hardworking, ambitious, and street-smart and started earning millions while still in his teens. He was also a major philanthropist. He died in an arson that attracted wide media interest.
Joseph Safra was a Swiss-based Lebanese Brazilian banker and businessman. A billionaire, he ran the Brazilian banking and investment empire, Safra Group, and was the chairman of all Safra companies. At the time of his death in 2020, he was the richest person in Brazil. He was married to a Greek-born woman named Vicky and had four children.
Eike Batista is a Brazilian-German serial entrepreneur. He was once engaged in a quest to promote Brazil's infrastructure with large-scale projects, which eventually led to his company’s bankruptcy. Once the wealthiest person in Brazil, he lost millions of dollars due to business losses and debts. He is currently under arrest for bribing Rio de Janeiro governor Sérgio Cabral.
Carlos Brito is a Brazilian businessman. He is best known for his tenure as the CEO of Anheuser-Busch InBev from 2008 to 2021. He was succeeded as CEO by Michel Doukeris upon his retirement. Brito has a degree in engineering from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Flávio Bolsonaro is a Brazilian politician, entrepreneur, and lawyer. He is currently serving as the Senator for Rio de Janeiro. Flávio Bolsonaro is also known as the eldest son of popular politician Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently serving as the President of Brazil.
Ricardo Semler is a Brazilian industrialist who is the CEO and majority owner of the company Semco Partners. The organization is known for its radical industrial democracy and corporate re-engineering. His business management policies, which have helped his company increase its profits manifold, have attracted widespread interest around the world. He is also a published author.
Silvio Santos is a Brazilian media tycoon, entrepreneur, and television host. He is best known as the host of Programa Silvio Santos, the second-longest running TV show in Brazil. Widely regarded as the most famous person in Brazil, Silvio Santos is the only celebrity from the country to be featured on Forbes magazine's list of billionaires.
Ana Hickmann is a Brazilian model, businesswoman, and TV host. She is best known for her work with world-renowned brands like Victoria's Secret, L'Oreal, and Bloomingdales. She has also appeared on the covers of popular magazines like Marie Claire, Elle, and Brazilian Vogue. Ana Hickmann currently co-hosts a TV show and owns her own jewellery, clothing, cosmetics and accessories brand.
José Carlos Semenzato is a Brazilian entrepreneur best known for founding an educational franchise chain called Microlins. In 2010, the franchise, which had 700 schools, was sold to Grupo Multi for a whopping R$110 million. José Carlos Semenzato is also credited with founding Casa X and LifeUSA.
Marcelo Odebrecht is a Brazilian businessman best known for his service as the former CEO of the diversified conglomerate, Odebrecht. He was arrested and sentenced to 19 years in prison in 2016 for paying over $30 million in bribes. Odebrecht admitted guilt, paid a $2 billion fine, and provided evidence to authorities, which helped reduce his sentence to ten years.
Moise Safra was a Lebanese-Brazilian businessman who co-founded Banco Safra—the sixth-largest banking institution in Brazil—with his brothers Edmond Safra and Joseph Safra. The sons of a prominent banker, the Safra brothers too cemented their place in the Brazilian financial services sector. Moise was also a major philanthropist. He was married to Chella Cohen Safra.
Roberto Marinho was a Brazilian businessman who owned the media conglomerate Grupo Globo from 1925 to 2003. The son of a publisher, he inherited the newspaper O Globo from his father and began working there as a reporter, gradually moving up the ranks. As the owner, he expanded the company from newspapers to radio and TV.
Ricardo Brennand was a Brazilian engineer and businessman. He studied civil and mechanical engineering at the Federal University of Pernambuco and became involved in the family business. He later founded the Ricardo Brennand Institute (IRB). A few months before his death in the Covid-19 pandemic, he was named the second-oldest billionaire in Brazil.
Luciano Huck is a Brazilian entrepreneur and TV host. He is best known for hosting a popular TV show called Caldeirão do Huck, which aired every Saturday on TV Globo from 2000 to 2021. The show was also broadcast to 114 countries. Huck won the Prêmio Extra de Televisão for Best TV Host for eight successive years starting from 2006.
Roberto Justus is a Brazilian businessman, investor, and television personality. He is best known for appearing on the Brazilian version of the popular reality talent game show, The Apprentice. Roberto Justus is also known for hosting a game show called Um Contra Cem.
Paola Carosella is an Italian Argentine businesswoman, cook, and celebrity chef. She is best known for appearing alongside French chef Érick Jacquin and Brazilian chef Henrique Fogaça as a juror on the popular TV show, MasterChef Brazil.
Patricia Abravanel is a Brazilian TV host, businesswoman, and producer. She is best known as the daughter of media tycoon Silvio Santos. Patricia Abravanel made headlines in 2001 when she was kidnapped in São Paulo. She was held in captivity for about a week and the news of her kidnap spread like wildfire, making her a household name in Brazil.
Jan Antonín Baťa was a Czech-Brazilian shoemaker and manufacturer who took over the famous Bata company from his half-brother in 1931 and implemented new growth plans for the company. Today, Bata factories have been established all over the world.
Elie Horn is a Brazilian philanthropist and businessman best known for founding one of the largest real estate companies in Brazil, Cyrela Brazil Realty. He is currently serving as the president of the company. Elie Horn is also a noted philanthropist. He has donated millions of dollars to various causes in Israel.
Eliana Michaelichin Bezerra is a Brazilian businesswoman, TV host, and former singer. She is best known as the host of a popular TV show called Eliana, which has been broadcast since 2009 on SBT network. Over the course of her career, Eliana Michaelichin Bezerra has won a couple of awards, including the prestigious Troféu Imprensa.
David Feffer is a Brazilian businessman who has been leading Grupo Suzano, one of Brazil's largest private companies, since 2003. David Feffer also acts as president of social and cultural institutions like the Directory Council of the Alef School and the Council for Philanthropic Foundation ARYMAX.
Octávio Frias was a Brazilian businessman best remembered for turning Folha de S. Paulo, a newspaper acquired by him in 1962, into one of the most important and influential media organizations in Brazil. Folha de S. Paulo became the basis for a conglomerate named Grupo Folha.
Rafael Fragoso was a Brazilian sportsman and businessman. A former Brazilian champion in horse racing, Fragoso also represented his country in several international competitions. After retiring as a professional jockey, Rafael Fragoso operated a footwear and accessories store in Ipanema, which he shut down in 2015. He died of COVID-19 in 2020 at the age of 62.
Cristina Greeven Cuomo is an entrepreneur and media personality best known as the wife of CNN News anchor, Chris Cuomo. She is credited with helping publications, such as Gotham and The Purist, evolve creatively and profit financially. She is also credited with launching her own website and journal that focuses on wellness and lifestyle.
Aldemir Bendine is a businessman who served as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Petrobras from 2015 to 2016. He began working for the financial services company Banco do Brasil as a teenager and eventually rose to the position of CEO. He left the commercial bank in 2015 to become the CEO of Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras.
Mario Calixto Filho was a Brazilian politician, businessman, and journalist. He is best remembered for his service as the Senator for the state of Rondônia from 2004 to 2005. In 2015, Mario Calixto Filho was arrested by the police after being accused of government procurement fraud. He was sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment and died in prison in 2020.