With the end of the year came the ranking published by Bloomberg in which the top 10 fortunes of the billionaires Latin Americans. The Brazilian presence predominates in this (five of them are from this country); on the other hand, Iris Fontbona is the only woman in the ranking and, representing Colombia, is Alejandro Santo Domingo and his family in seventh place.
Within the top 10 published by Bloomberg, the Latin American with the greatest fortune among billionaires in the region is, once again, Carlos Slim. The 84-year-old Mexican reached a fortune of US$103.9 billion in 2023 product of América Móvil, the largest mobile telephone operator in the region, its participation in the New York Times and in the Mexican construction industry (through the family investment group, Grupo Carso).
In second position is also Mexican, Germán Larrea. Together with his family, The wealth that Larrea holds reaches US$34.5 billion and places him in the world ranking in position 42. Compared to last year, his wealth increased 52% thanks to Grupo México (a conglomerate with a presence in the infrastructure, transportation and mining sectors and listed on the Mexican stock exchange) and control of the cinema chain, Cinemex.
Followed by them are Iris Fontbona, Chilean, Jorge Paulo Lemann, Brazilian, in positions three and four. Fontbona, 81, is the only woman who appears in the ranking of Latin American billionaires of 2023. Her assets are valued at US$28.2 billion and she is ranked 56th in the world. Lemann, on the other hand, boasts a fortune of US$23,400 after a 10% growth compared to last year’s measurements.
In positions five and six are the Brazilian Eduardo Saverin (co-founder of Facebook) and Ricardo Salinas respectively. Although Eduardo Saverin was born in Brazil, a good part of his childhood and adolescence was spent in Miami, United States. His fortune was the one with the greatest growth compared to last year (184%) and is valued at US$19.3 billion.
Ricardo Salinas is the third Mexican in the Latin American ranking; His sixth position is due to Grupo Salinas and Elektra, financial conglomerates that include Banco Azteca. At the end of this year, his fortune was valued at US$13.4 billion.
Later there is the Colombian Alejandro Santo Domingo and Marcel Telles from Brazil. Santo Domingo and his family hold a wealth valued at US$13.3 billion, they own Caracol Televisión and have stakes in the Chilean bank Corpbanca and the Belgian brewer AB InBev. On the other hand, Telles has US$10,600 in net worth at the end of 2023, an increase of 8% compared to the immediately previous year.
Finally, in position nine and ten are two more Brazilians, André Esteves and Carlos Sicupira. Esteves, 55 years old, has assets calculated at US$9.6 billion thanks to his role as president and controlling shareholder of Banco BTG Pactual, a bank that handles 90% of all financial transactions in all of Brazil. Sicupira, for his part, is part of a triad along with Marcel Telles and Jorge Lemann that controls retailers such as Lojas Americanas and Sao Carlos; His assets closed the year at US$8.9 billion.
