Jorge Paulo Lemann

Jorge Paulo Lemann (born August 26, 1939 in Rio de Janeiro) is the fifth wealthiest individual in Brazil (ranked number 172 in the world) with an estimated self made fortune of USD$ 5.8 billion in 2008.

Jorge Paulo Lemann was born in Brazil during 1939 to Swiss immigrants. He received his Bachelors degree from Harvard University in 1961and in 1971 he and three partners founded the Brazilian investment banking firm Banco Garantia. Undaunted by a horrific market crash that came only weeks later, Lemann was eventually able to build Garantia into one of the country's most prestigious and innovative investment banks, described in Forbes as "a Brazilian version of Goldman Sachs." Later he and his partners bought control of a Brazilian brewery that eventually became AmBev. In 2003 AmBev had a pretax profit margin of 35 percent on sales of USD $2.7 billion. It controlled 65 percent of the Brazilian beer market and almost 80 percent of Argentina's, with monopoly positions in Paraguay, Uruguay, and Bolivia. [Richard Tomlison, "The New King of Beer", Fortune Magazine, October 18, 2004]

AmBev merged with Interbrew of Belgium in August of 2004. The stock of the combined firm, InBev, soared 40 percent during 2005. A onetime tennis champion (he played at Wimbledon), he still actively invests in Brazil with former Banco Garantia partners - and fellow billionaires - Marcel Telles and Carlos Alberto Sicupira. In addition, Paulo Lemman is also a board member of Lojas Americanas S.A., the Gillette Company and Swiss Re; Chairman of the Latin American Advisory Committee of the New York Stock Exchange; founder and board member of Fundação Estudar, which provides scholarships for Brazilian students; and a member of the International Advisory Boards of the Credit Suisse Group and DaimlerChrysler. He previously served as a member of the board of directors of Brahma from 1990 to 2001. [Inbev Prospectus January 2005] He is currently married with six children. [Forbes List of Billionaires 2006]

ee also

* Latin America's most important businessmen

Notes