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We recently compiled a report on the 30 Wealthiest People in Brazil and in this article we will look at the richest person in the South American country.
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, for 2023. 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.
Pixabay/Public Domain
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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The Wealthiest Person in Brazil
1. Eduardo Saverin
Net Worth as of June 28: $28.5B
Eduardo Saverin was the cofounder of Meta Platform in 2004. He’s a venture capitalist now but still earns most of his wealth from his stake in Meta. He first launched his venture fund B Capital in 2016, with BCG and Bain Capital veteran Raj Ganguly. The fund had more than $5.5 billion in assets under management in 2023.
Curious to learn about other wealthy people in Brazil? Check out our report on the 30 Wealthiest People in Brazil.
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