Bloomberg Línea — There are 18 Latin Americans on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, four of whom are siblings. Of the total, 17 are men, while 10 of whom are Brazilian, four Mexican, two are Colombians, one is Argentine and one, the only woman on the index, is Chilean.
Bloomberg Línea lists the Latin Americans on the list, in reverse order of worth:
#18 Walther Moreira Salles Jr.
- The 18th richest person in the region is Brazilian film director Walther Moreira Salles Jr., 66, son of the late ambassador and banker Walter Moreira Salles, and co-owner of the Brazilian bank Unibanco (ITUB). He is ranked the 498th richest person in the world.
- Salles is worth around $5.2 billion and his wealth has grown by 2.3% so far in 2023.
#17 Joao Moreira Salles
- In 17th place in Latin America is Brazilian Joao Moreira Salles, 60, a documentary filmmaker and brother of Walther Salles and also of Fernando Roberto Moreira Salles and Pedro Salles, who also appear on this list.
- Joao Moreira Salles has a fortune of $5.2 billion and is in 497th place in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His wealth also grew by 2.3% in 2023.
#16 Marcos Galperín
- The 16th richest person in the region is Argentine entrepreneur Marcos Galperín, 51, founder of e-commerce giant Mercado Libre.
- Galperín is worth around $5.4 billion, and his fortune has swelled 29.4% so far this year, and he occupies 461st place on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
#15 Fernando Moreira Salles
- Another member of the Moreira Salles family, in this case, Fernando, 76, the 15th wealthiest person in Latin America and 449th in the world. Like the rest of the family, he is a shareholder of Unibanco Itaú.
- The Brazilian’s wealth totals $5.5 billion and has increased by 3.3% so far this year.
#14 Luis Sarmiento
- In 14th place in Latin America is Luis Sarmiento, ranked 439th in the world. The 90-year-old is the president and founder of Grupo Aval, Colombia’s largest banking group.
- He also owns two of the insurance companies that operate under the Alfa brand, El Tiempo newspaper and real estate developer Construcciones Planificadas.
- Sarmiento’s fortune is $5.6 billion, and his assets have gained 0.3% in value so far this year.
#13 Pedro Moreira Salles
- Pedro Moreira Salles, 63, is president of the board of Itaú Unibanco, and he is the 437th richest person in the world.
- “Pedro Moreira Salles and his brothers share a majority stake in CBMM, the mining company that controls most of the world’s niobium production. The Araxa, Brazil-based company supplies niobium, used to strengthen steel, to some 50 countries. He is also co-chairman of Itaú Unibanco, Latin America’s largest financial institution,” according to Bloomberg.
- Pedro Moreira Salles has a fortune of $5.6 billion and his net worth has increased by 2.2% so far this year.
#12 Andre Esteves
- The 12th richest person in Latin America is Brazilian Andre Esteves, 54, president and controlling shareholder of Banco BTG Pactual, the region’s largest investment bank, and which participates in more than 90% of the financial transactions carried out in Brazil. Esteves is also a shareholder in Estapar, a stock exchange-listed car park operator.
- Esteves’ net worth is $5.7 billion, and he is the 422nd richest person in the world. However, his net work has fallen 7% in value in the first two months of 2023.
#11 Jorge Moll and family
- Brazilian Jorge Moll, 77, is the eleventh richest person in the region and the 353rd in the world, and he is the founder and majority shareholder of Rede D’Or Sao Luiz, the largest healthcare chain in Brazil.
- The Rio de Janeiro-based company launched in 1977 as an x-ray diagnosis clinic before adding clinics and hospitals, and made its stock market debut in 2020 and now has around 11,000 hospital beds across its network of hospitals.
- The Moll and family wealth is calculated at $6.7 billion, although it has contracted by 3.8% so far this year.
#10 Juan Beckmann Vidal and family
- The tenth largest fortune in the region is in the hands of Mexican Juan Beckmann Vidal, and which ranks 275th in the world.
- Beckmann Vidal, 83, is the president of Becle, a listed holding company that controls José Cuervo, the world’s largest tequila distiller. The family is the Mexico City-based company’s major shareholder, and which saw net sales revenues of $2 billion in 2021. The family also owns Proximo Spirits, a Mexican alcoholic beverages distributor.
- The Beckmann Vidal’s family’s wealth totals around $8 billion and has grown by 5.4% so far this year.
#9 Carlos Sicupira
- Brazilian Carlos Sicupira, 74, is ninth in the region and the 263rd richest person in the world.
- Together with fellow Mexicans Marcel Telles and Jorge Paulo Lemann, Scicupira is a shareholder of Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, and also holds shares in Kraft Heinz and Restaurant Brands International, the company behind Burger King. The trio are also the controlling shareholders of embattled Brazilian retail giant Lojas Americanas and real estate developer Sao Carlos.
- His $8.2-billion fortune has contracted by 1% since the beginning of the year.
#8 Eduardo Saverin
- Latin America’s eighth-richest person is Brazilian Eduardo Saverin, 40, a co-founder of Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook.
- Although he was born in Brazil, Saverin was brought up in Miami, Florida, where his Romanian father was an exporter and real estate developer. He attended the Gulliver Institute, in Miami, and later Harvard, where he was part of the Phoenix S.K. Club. He was head of the Harvard Investment Association, and graduated in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in economics.
- He currently owns 2% of Meta, and his fortune is estimated by Bloomberg to be $9.5 billion, making him the world’s 210th richest person, and his fortune has increased by 39.7% so far this year.
#7 Marcel Telles
- Brazilian Marcel Telles, 72, is the seventh-richest person in the region and 203rd in the world, and is a business partner of Jorge Paulo Lemann and Carlos Scicupira.
- His net worth is currently $9.7 billion, a 0.8% drop since the start of this year.
#6 Ricardo Salinas
- Mexican entrepreneur Ricardo Salinas, 67, is Latin America’s sixth-richest person and ranks 171st in the world in terms of wealth. President of Grupo Salinas and Grupo Elektra, a conglomerate of financial services with revenues of 146 billion pesos ($7.94 billion) in 2021.
- The retail and financing group is also the owner of Banco Azteca, and Salinas is also a shareholder in TV Azteca.
- Ricardo Salinas’ fortune is estimated at $11.3 billion, but which has seen a 2.6% decline since the start of the year.
#5 Alejandro Santo Domingo and family
- Colombian Alejandro Santo Domingo, 45, is the region’s fifth-richest person, and he ranks 163rd worldwide.
- Alejandro supervises the fortune of Colombia’s wealthiest family through the investment company Quadrant Capital, which is based in New York. The family is a shareholder in AB InBev, Chile’s Corpbanca and Spanish real estate developer Colonial, and controls Caracol Televisión and other businesses.
- Alejandro Santo Domingo’s fortune totals $11.6 billion, and it has grown by 2% since the start of the year.
#4 Jorge Paulo Lemann
- Latin America’s fourth-richest person is Brazilian Jorge Paulo Lemann, 83, and who is the world’s 73rd richest person.
- He is a business partner of Marcel Telles and Carlos Sicupira, and his fortune totals around $21.2 billion, but which has seen a 0.2% decline in 2023.
#3 Iris Fontbona and family
- The only woman on the list of Latin Americans that form part of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Fontbona, 81, together with her family, has the third-largest fortune in the region and is the 57th richest person in the world.
- Fontbona is the matriarch of Chile’s wealthiest family, the Luksics, which controls Antofagasta, the Santiago-based mining company that is one of the world’s biggest copper producers. Through the stock exchange-listed company Quinenco, the family also controls Banco de Chile, Invexans, a cable and copper products manufacturer, brewer CCU and shipping company CSAV.
- The family fortune totals $26.7 billion, and has increased by 1.1% so far this year.
#2 Germán Larrea and family
- Mexican Germán Larrea, 81, is Latin America’s second-richest person and ranks 46th worldwide.
- Larrea is the president of Grupo México, a listed conglomerate with operations in the US, Mexico, Peru and Spain, and which reported revenues of $14.8 billion in 2021. He also controls Grupo Cinemex, a Mexican cinema chain.
- Larrea’s wealth is calculated to be $27.3 billion, and which has grown by 20.7% so far this year.
#1 Carlos Slim
- Mexican entrepreneur Carlos Slim, 83, is the region’s wealthiest individual, and ninth worldwide.
- Slim controls América Móvil, the largest mobile phone carrier in Latin America. The Mexico City-based company had revenues of $42.1 billion in 2021. Slim also holds a stake in the New York Times and in commercial banks, while his family’s company Grupo Carso is an infrastructure developer in Mexico.
- Slim’s fortune is calculated to be $82.2 billion, and has grown by 11.4% so far this year.
