The Most Famous
BUSINESSPEOPLE from Brazil
This page contains a list of the greatest Brazilian Businesspeople. The pantheon dataset contains 847 Businesspeople, 6 of which were born in Brazil. This makes Brazil the birth place of the 18th most number of Businesspeople behind Denmark, and South Korea.
Top 7
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Brazilian Businesspeople of all time. This list of famous Brazilian Businesspeople is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. João Havelange (1916 - 2016)
With an HPI of 69.14, João Havelange is the most famous Brazilian Businessperson. His biography has been translated into 53 different languages on wikipedia.
Jean-Marie Faustin Godefroid "João" de Havelange (Brazilian Portuguese: [ʒuˈɐ̃w aviˈlɐ̃ʒi], French: [ʒɑ̃ maʁi fostɛ̃ ɡɔdfʁwa də avlɑ̃ʒ]; 8 May 1916 – 16 August 2016) was a Brazilian lawyer, businessman, and athlete who served as the seventh president of FIFA from 1974 to 1998. His tenure as president is the second longest in FIFA's history, behind only that of Jules Rimet. He received the title of Honorary President when leaving office, but resigned in April 2013. He was preceded by Stanley Rous and was succeeded by Sepp Blatter. João Havelange served as a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from 1963 to 2011. He was the longest-serving active member upon his resignation. In July 2012, a Swiss prosecutor's report revealed that, during his tenure on FIFA's Executive Committee, he and his son-in-law Ricardo Teixeira took more than 41 million Swiss francs (£21m) in bribes in connection with the award of World Cup marketing rights.
2. Carlos Ghosn (b. 1954)
With an HPI of 61.19, Carlos Ghosn is the 2nd most famous Brazilian Businessperson. His biography has been translated into 36 different languages.
Carlos Ghosn (; French: [kaʁlɔs ɡon]; Arabic: كارلوس غصن; Lebanese Arabic pronunciation: ['kaːrlos 'ɣosˤn], born 9 March 1954) is a businessman and former automotive executive, widely known for having dramatically fled house arrest in 2019 in Japan, while awaiting trial on financial impropriety charges related to his tenure at Nissan.Ghosn served as CEO of Michelin North America, chairman and CEO of Renault, chairman of AvtoVAZ, chairman and CEO of Nissan, and chairman of Mitsubishi Motors.
3. Jorge Paulo Lemann (b. 1939)
With an HPI of 55.01, Jorge Paulo Lemann is the 3rd most famous Brazilian Businessperson. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Jorge Paulo Lemann (born August 26, 1939) is a Brazilian billionaire investment banker and businessman with dual Brazilian and Swiss citizenship.
4. Silvio Santos (b. 1930)
With an HPI of 54.00, Silvio Santos is the 4th most famous Brazilian Businessperson. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Senor Abravanel (Hebrew: סניור אברבנאל; born 12 December 1930), known professionally as Silvio Santos (Portuguese: /ˈsiwvju ˈsɐ̃tus/), is a Brazilian media mogul and television host. He is the owner of holdings that include SBT, the second largest television network in the country. His net worth was US$3.2 billion in 2020. He is the host of the second longest running Brazilian program: Programa Silvio Santos, aired since 1963. He is also the only celebrity in the country on the list of billionaires by Forbes magazine. The magazine also states that "there is no one more famous than Silvio Santos in Brazil."
5. Eduardo Saverin (b. 1982)
With an HPI of 49.68, Eduardo Saverin is the 5th most famous Brazilian Businessperson. His biography has been translated into 41 different languages.
Eduardo Luiz Saverin ( SAV-ər-in; Portuguese: [eduˈaʁdu luˈis ˈsaveɾĩ] ; born March 19, 1982) is a Brazilian billionaire entrepreneur and angel investor based in Singapore. Saverin is one of the co-founders of Facebook. In 2012, he owned 53 million Facebook shares (approximately 2% of all outstanding shares), valued at approximately $2 billion at the time. He also invested in early-stage startups such as Qwiki and Jumio. As of February 17, 2024, his net worth was $26.2 billion, making him the 65th richest person in the world.
6. Eike Batista (b. 1956)
With an HPI of 48.68, Eike Batista is the 6th most famous Brazilian Businessperson. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Eike Fuhrken Batista da Silva (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈajk(i) ˈfuʁkẽj baˈtʃistɐ dɐ ˈsiwvɐ]; born 3 November 1956) is a Brazilian-German serial entrepreneur who made and lost a multi-billion dollar fortune in mining and oil and gas industries. He engaged in a quest to promote Brazil's infrastructure with large-scale projects, such as the Porto do Açu. He was chairman of Brazilian conglomerate EBX Group, which was formerly the parent company of five companies traded on the BOVESPA's Novo Mercado, a special segment of the São Paulo stock market. These five companies were: OGX (oil and gas), MPX (energy), LLX (logistics), MMX (mining), and OSX (offshore services and equipment). Nowadays, EBX advises new startup companies and tries to rebuild itself again. In early 2012, Batista had a net worth of US$35 billion, ranking him the seventh wealthiest person in the world, and the richest in Brazil. By July 2013, his wealth had plummeted to $200 million due to his debts and his company's falling stock prices. Bloomberg reported in January 2014, that Batista "has a negative net worth." Forbes and Folha de São Paulo quoted Batista in September 2014, stating that his net worth was –$1 billion. Batista is currently under arrest and has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for bribing disgraced Rio de Janeiro governor Sérgio Cabral, in order to secure public contracts.
7. Mike Krieger (b. 1986)
With an HPI of 37.23, Mike Krieger is the 7th most famous Brazilian Businessperson. His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.
Michel Krieger (born March 4, 1986) is a Brazilian entrepreneur and software engineer who co-founded Instagram along with Kevin Systrom, and served as its CTO. Instagram expanded from a few million users to 1 billion monthly active users while Krieger served as CTO.On September 24, 2018, it was announced that Krieger and Systrom were resigning from Instagram.
People
Pantheon has 7 people classified as Brazilian businesspeople born between 1916 and 1986. Of these 7, 6 (85.71%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Brazilian businesspeople include Carlos Ghosn, Jorge Paulo Lemann, and Silvio Santos. The most famous deceased Brazilian businesspeople include João Havelange. As of April 2024, 1 new Brazilian businesspeople have been added to Pantheon including Silvio Santos.
Living Brazilian Businesspeople
Go to all Rankings
Carlos Ghosn
1954 - Present
HPI: 61.19
Jorge Paulo Lemann
1939 - Present
HPI: 55.01
Silvio Santos
1930 - Present
HPI: 54.00
Eduardo Saverin
1982 - Present
HPI: 49.68
Eike Batista
1956 - Present
HPI: 48.68
Mike Krieger
1986 - Present
HPI: 37.23
