Francisco Ivens de Sá Dias Branco Net Worth

Born on August 3, 1934, and died on June 24, 2016, Mr. Francisco Ivens de Sá Dias Branco, formerly ranked by Forbes among the world’s richest men, was the genius who founded one of Brazil’s most renowned food companies, the M. Dias Branco. He came from the northeast area of Brazil which is considered to be one of the poorest areas in the country, but that didn’t stop him from realizing his dreams of making his story different. He was never destined to be rich due to being born into a very poor household that struggled for basic things and hard to do a lot of hard work to build an empire out of nothing. By dedicating most of his time to pursuing his passion, Manuel made it out of poverty after succeeding with the business choices he made during his youth. More details follow below.

Early Life

Francisco Ivens de Sa Dias Branco was born on August 3, 1934, in Brazil. His father was Manuel Dias Branco who ran a small bakery in Ceara.

Professional Life

Francisco’s father, Manuel Branco, started a small bakery in Ceara in 1940. It was a small business that was dedicated to making biscuits and pasta and supplying within the region. Proceeds were barely enough to keep the family going, but Ivens, who joined his father in the business in 1953, was not going to stop until he changed their family’s story.

He successfully took over the company from his father and expanded it to reach new levels. Today, it is a full-service enterprise that manufactures, markets, and supplies a range of wheat flour, pasta, margarine, vegetable shortening, cookies, snacks, and cakes in Brazil. The company holds more than 25 percent of the country’s biscuit market and is the third-biggest wheat flour manufacturer in Brazil.

At present, the company employs more than 14,000 workers and boasts of 25 distribution centers and 14 industrial units in different regions of the country.

But joining his father’s bakery in 1953 wasn’t all that the late businessman did in order to attain his level of success. He went all the way to investing in heavy machinery, worked three shifts in a day, and eventually succeeded with the first venture he created, known as Pepita Wafers. From the 1960s, the company underwent several important administrative and infrastructural changes and subsequently launched numerous new products, including Petit Beure biscuits. He launched Richester in 1978, and the product helped in promoting his company to reach new levels of sales, subsequently increasing the market share manifolds.

In 1992, Mr. Francisco opened his first unit for wheat milling. It became one of the largest mills in Brazil, both in terms of storage capacity and derivatives. He also participated in a couple of specialization courses with a focus on the industrial manufacturing of pasta and biscuits. Additionally, he engaged in foreign travel every year and attended conferences and congresses related to his business. In addition to this, his business also extends into the hospitality and construction industries. While most of his wealth was made from M. Dias Branco, he was a real estate investor too. In 2014, he purchased Hotel Esplanada of Fortaleza which he was planning to convert into residential properties before his passing.

With all the success and wealth he made, Francisco Ives Branco was often regarded as one of the richest businessmen in Brazil. He was the first billionaire to have emerged from the northeast Brazil region basically known for its extreme poverty. With the ever new products being manufactured and launched, he is going to reach new heights with M. Dias Branco, and also with his hospitality and real estate ventures.

Francisco Ivens de Sa Dias Branco Net Worth

Francisco Ivens de Sa Dias Branco had a net worth of $5 billion dollars as of the time of his demise in June 2016. He served as the chairman and chief executive officer of the cookie and pasta manufacturer M. Dias Branco S.A. and owned 63 percent of the company, which was founded as a bakery by his father Manuel Branco back in the 1940s. In addition to the above, Francisco also owned over a billion dollar worth of real estate in the Brazilian state of Ceara, where he lived. Thanks to his enormous wealth, he was considered to be the first billionaire to emerge from the Northeast region of Brazil.

Nowadays, the cookie and pasta maker holds nearly a 50 percent market share for its products in Brazil’s northeast, and a 25 percent market share all over the country. All of his children occupy different strategic positions of leadership in the huge Brazilian pasta maker.