Brazilian billionaire Andre Esteves ’ fortune soared by a record amount as shares in his bank, Banco BTG Pactual SA, joined the market frenzy triggered by the right’s surprise showing in the country’s general elections.
Esteves’ net worth rose by $2.7 billion on Monday, a 20% jump, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index . That was the day’s biggest gain on the index and pushes his net worth to $15.8 billion, making him the third-richest Brazilian .
Brazilian markets were euphoric on Monday after conservative presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro performed better than expected in a first-round vote, finishing first. Brazilians will vote in a second round in less than three weeks, pitting Bolsonaro against current leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Political and financial analysts say Bolsonaro is entering the runoff with much higher chances than his rival.
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Esteves, who is BTG’s main partner, is known for maintaining pragmatic political relationships with both the left and the right. A representative for BTG declined to comment.
The billionaire, along with other bankers and entrepreneurs, met with Lula in late August as the president was trying to mend ties with the business sector as part of his reelection campaign. Around the same time, Esteves also met with US President Donald Trump in a golf club near Washington, DC, where they discussed Brazil’s economy and elections.
BTG was the sole Latin America-based bank involved in the giant initial public offering of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. earlier this year, which made Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire.
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