Jorge Paulo Lemann Net Worth & Biography

Often referred to as one of the “Kings of beer” Jorge Paulo Lemann is a self-made businessman who has built a lasting name for himself in the business industry. He is a Swiss-Brazilian banker who is believed to be the richest man in Brazil, thanks to his investment in Anheuser-Busch InBev, the largest brewer in the world. Right from his childhood days, Jorge always had an independent mind and wanted to be a financially self-sufficient individual, and this was possibly the main reason behind his early completion of studies. After completing his education from several reputed institutions in his country and overseas, he collaborated with Carlos and Mercel and co-founded the investment firm Banco Garantia, and with this Jorge established himself as an extraordinary entrepreneur. He maneuvered over the company’s investments his business acumen proved accurate when all the investments made by the company gained profits. This company was sold off by the three co-founders in a lucrative deal and then, Lemann turned his attention to something else – the brewery industry. He built a relationship with the brewery company Brahma which he later acquired along with another company which he combined with Brahma to form AmBev. Till today, Jorge’s investment company, 3G Capital, has acquired many big brands around the world and he has been actively involved in the company’s success all the way from inception. More details follow below.

Early Life: Childhood, Education

He was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 26 August 1939. His parents were Paul Lemann and Anna Yvette Truebner.

Jorge attended the American School of Rio de Janeiro. He was a brilliant tennis player as a young student and this helped him gain admission into Harvard University in the US where he completed his graduation in a space of two years instead of three. He was so good at tennis that he won the Brazilian national tennis championship on five occasions. He also represented Switzerland and Brazil in the Davis Cup and also played at Wimbledon.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with, majoring in Economics at Harvard.

Professional Life: Business Career

After completing his graduation, Jorge joined the multinational financial services firm ‘Credit Suisse’ as a trainee.

In 1966, he held a 2 percent stake in the company Invesco, which was the first company he ever invested in. However, the company went bankrupt soon afterward and Jorge had to find something more worthy.

With the funds he had saved over the years, Jorge worked with Carlos Alberto Sicupira and Marcel Herrmann Telles in 1971 to establish the investment bank called Banco Garantia. A huge decline in the market took place a few weeks after the establishment of Banco Garantia, however, the investment bank stood its ground and gradually grew to become one of Brazil’s most renowned investment banks.

Jorge was associated with Brahma until 2001, and also served as the director of the board at the Brazilian beer company. He was associated with the operations of his investment firm Banco Garantia for more than twenty years until he sold it to Credit Suisse Boston for 675 million dollars in 1998.

Moving on with his career, Jorge Lemann acquired the Brazilian brewery called Companhia Antarctica Paulista and in addition to Brahma Beer. He combined both businesses together to form a single entity called AmBev, which was, in 2004, merged once again with another brewing company Interbrew to become a large brewery business known as InBev. In less than a year, under the leadership of Jorge Lemann, the stock of the new company, InBev, grew by 40 percent. InBev later went on to acquire the American brewer company named Anheuser-Busch which is the maker of brands like Budlight and Budweiser. The merger between InBev and Anheuser-Busch resulted in the Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) company. Ever since, Jorge Paulo Lemann, due to his success and extensive holdings, has been regarded as one of the living ‘Kings of beer’.

In 2004, Jorge and business partners Robert Thompson Motta, Carlos Alberto Sicupira, and Mercel Herrmann established the investment company called 3G Capital. Six years later, the company acquired the shares of the Burger King Company. Each share was bought at $24 and the total deal was worth an estimated $4 billion. In 2013, 3G Capital made headlines when it acquired the H.J.Heinz Company in association with American mogul Warren Buffet. The company was purchased with the sum of $28 billion.

Jorge is also on the board the popular international brand of men’s products, Gillette, which initially started as a maker of men’s safety razors. He is associated with the organization Endeavour, a nonprofit foundation that helps new entrepreneurs find their feet in the market.

Personal Life: Wife, Children, Private Interests

Jorge has been married twice in his life. For the first time, he married a Brazilian psychoanalyst named Maria de Santiago Dantas Quental. He later married Susanna Lemann for his second marriage.

He has five children, including Kim, Marc, Anna Victoria, Lara, and Jorge Felipe.

In 1999, while living in Brazil with his family, Jorge’s children escaped a kidnapping attempt on the way to their school. They were saved by their driver. Lemann and his family have been living in Switzerland since then.

Philanthropy

Generous and dedicated to genuinely helping people, Jorge has founded and still supports a number of philanthropic endeavors. He has made financial contributions towards the establishment of non-profit organizations like the Fundacao Estudar and the Lemann Institute for Brazilian Studies. He also sponsors a professorship at Harvard University which is named after him.

Jorge Paulo Lemann Net Worth: Salary, Income Sources, Assets

The Swiss-Brazilian business tycoon, Jorge Paulo Lemann, is currently entitled to a net worth of $23 billion. Also, a former tennis champion who even played Wimbledon, Jorge is named as the richest man in Brazil. He has served or is serving on the boards of Lojas Americanas S.A., the Gillette Company, and several others. This businessman is currently the chair of the Latin American Advisory Committee of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)/ He is the founder and chairman of the board of Fundação Estudar, and a member of the International Advisory Boards of DaimlerChrysler and the Credit Suisse Group.

The primary source of Jorge Paulo Lemann’s net worth is his 10 percent stake in the world’s largest beer maker, Anheuser-Busch InBev. In addition to a long list of other profitable investments, he also makes a handsome sum as one of the controlling partners of the investment firm 3G Capital where he maintains a 45 percent stake.