Jorge Paulo Lemann facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jorge Paulo Lemann
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| Born | August 26, 1939 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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| Citizenship | Brazilian Swiss |
| Education | Harvard University (BA) |
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| Known for | Ambev and 3G Capital |
| Spouse(s) |
Maria Quental
(m. 1966; div. 1986)Susanna Mally
(m. 2005) |
| Children | 5 |
Jorge Paulo Lemann, born on August 26, 1939, is a very successful businessman and investor from Brazil. He also holds Swiss citizenship. He is known for co-founding a big investment company called 3G Capital. This company owns famous brands like Burger King, Tim Hortons, and Heinz. He became the richest person in Brazil in March 2023.
Contents
Early Life and School Days
Jorge Paulo Lemann was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1939. His father, Paul Lemann, was from Switzerland and started a dairy company. His mother, Anna Yvette Truebner, was also of Swiss background. When Jorge was 14, his father passed away in an accident.
As a child, Jorge dreamed of becoming an inventor. He admired Thomas Edison and tried to build many machines. However, they often did not work as he hoped. He went to the American School of Rio de Janeiro.
In 1960, he earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Harvard University. Jorge found his first year at Harvard difficult. He was only 17 and missed the warm weather of Brazil. He also found the amount of studying and writing at Harvard challenging.
Playing Tennis
When he was younger, Jorge Paulo Lemann was a talented tennis player. He won the Brazilian national tennis championship five times. He even played in the Davis Cup twice, representing both Switzerland and Brazil. In 1962, he also played at the famous Wimbledon tournament.
His Business Journey
After college, Jorge Lemann worked as a trainee at a bank in Geneva from 1961 to 1962. In 1966, a lending company he had invested in went out of business. But this did not stop him.
In 1971, Lemann, along with his partners Carlos Alberto Sicupira and Marcel Herrmann Telles, started an investment bank called Banco Garantia in Brazil. Even though the market faced problems soon after, they built Garantia into a very respected bank. It was even called "a Brazilian version of Goldman Sachs" by Forbes magazine.
Building Big Companies
After a financial crisis in Asia in 1997, Banco Garantia was sold in 1998. From 1990 to 2001, Lemann was on the board of directors for a beer company called Companhia Cervejaria Brahma.
Later, he and his partners bought two Brazilian breweries, Brahma and Companhia Antarctica Paulista. These companies then joined together to form AmBev. By 2004, AmBev controlled a large part of the beer market in Brazil and other South American countries.
In 2004, AmBev merged with a company from Belgium called Interbrew. This created a huge new company called InBev. In 2008, InBev bought the American brewer Anheuser-Busch. This deal created the world's largest brewing company, Anheuser-Busch Inbev (AB Inbev). This made Jorge Lemann one of the most important people in the beer industry.
Investing in Famous Brands
Jorge Lemann also co-founded another investment company called 3G Capital. This company owns many well-known brands. In 2010, 3G Capital bought Burger King.
In 2013, 3G Capital, working with Berkshire Hathaway, bought the H. J. Heinz Company. Then, in 2015, Heinz merged with Kraft Foods to create Kraft Heinz. Jorge Lemann was on the board of Kraft Heinz until 2021.
In March 2023, because of the success of Ambev, Jorge Paulo Lemann once again became the richest person in Brazil.
Personal Life and Helping Others
Jorge Lemann has been married twice and has six children. He spends his time in different places, including São Paulo, Brazil, and Rapperswil-Jona in Switzerland, where his family lives. He also spends time in St. Louis, Missouri.
In 1999, an event related to his children's safety on their way to school led him to move permanently to Switzerland.
Jorge Lemann does not often give interviews or appear in public. However, in Brazil, he is seen as a business hero. Bloomberg described him as a mix of famous figures like Warren Buffett, Sam Walton, and Roger Federer.
Lemann is also part of the Executive Advisory Board of World.Minds. This group works on global projects related to leadership, education, and new ideas.
See also
In Spanish: Jorge Paulo Lemann para niños
- List of Brazilians by net worth
