Drea Knufken
This self-made billionaire launched his career by founding “Brazilian Goldman Sachs” Banco Garantia in 1971. 27 years later, Lemann and partners Carlos Alberto Sicupira and Marcel Telles sold Banco Garantia to Credit Suisse First Boston for $675 million.
Lemann and his partners used the money to buy the Brazilian brewery that eventually became AmBev, then InBev, then Anheuser-Busch InBev. Lemann is one of the latter’s biggest shareholders, according to Forbes. The Lemann-Sicupira-Telles triad also owns major Brazilian discount retailer Lojas Americanas and significant shares in America Latina Logistica, Brazil’s biggest railroad operator.
Most recently, Lemann and his buddies bought the Burger King restaurant chain via their private equity fund, 3G Capital, which had invested in Wendy’s in the past. In case that isn’t impressive enough, Lemann was also a five-time Brazilian tennis champion and played at Wimbledon.
