Jorge Paulo Lemann | |
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| Born | (1939-08-26)August 26, 1939 (age 86) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Citizenship | Brazilian Swiss[1] |
| Education | Harvard University (BA) |
| Occupations |
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| Known for | Ambev and3G Capital |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 5[2] |
| Website | fundacaolemann |
Jorge Paulo Lemann (born August 26, 1939)[3] is a Brazilianbillionaire investment banker, businessman, and former tennis player with dual Brazilian and Swiss citizenship.[4]
Lemann co-founded investment firm3G Capital, which owns brands such asBurger King,Tim Hortons,Anheuser-Busch andHeinz.[5]
He became therichest person in Brazil in March 2023, with a net worth of US$17 billion (R$86.1 billion).[6]
In 1939, Lemann was born inRio de Janeiro to Paul Lemann,[1] a Swiss immigrant who founded the dairy manufacturer Leco, and Anna Yvette Truebner, aBrazilian of Swiss origin.[7][8][9] His father died in a bus accident in 1953, when Lemann was 14.[10] As a child, Lemann expressed aspirations of becoming an inventor, and admiredThomas Edison. He built different machines but they usually did not work out. Lemann attended theAmerican School of Rio de Janeiro.[11]
In 1960, he received a bachelor's degree in economics fromHarvard University. According to Lemann's own admission, he did not enjoy his time at Harvard, stating that "My first year at Harvard was horrible. I was only 17 and I missed the beach and the sun a lot. Boston was too cold for me. It was my first time in the USA and I was not used to study or to write; we had to write a lot in Harvard. My grades were the worst possible."[12][13] After setting off fireworks on the last day of his freshman year, he was reprimanded and considered dropping out, but ultimately decided to stay on.[12][14]
During his youth, Lemann played tennis. He won the Brazilian national tennis championship five times.[11][15] He participated in theDavis Cup twice, once as part of theSwiss Davis Cup team and once on behalf of theBrazilian team,[1][16] and also played atWimbledon in 1962.[17]
From 1961 to 1962, he worked as a trainee atCredit Suisse in Geneva.[1] In 1966, the first company in which Lemann had equity interest, a lending company called Invesco, went bankrupt. Lemann had a 2% equity stake.[10] In 1971, Lemann,Carlos Alberto Sicupira andMarcel Herrmann Telles founded the Brazilianinvestment banking firmBanco Garantia. Undaunted by a market crash that came only weeks later, Lemann was eventually able to build Garantia into one of the country's most prestigious and innovative investment banks, described inForbes as "a Brazilian version ofGoldman Sachs."[18][19] Lemann and his partners now help to control AB Inbev as members of its board of directors.[citation needed]
Following the1997 Asian financial crisis, Banco Garantia was sold toCredit Suisse First Boston in July 1998 for $675m.[20][15][18] From 1990 to 2001, he served as a member of the board of directors ofCompanhia Cervejaria Brahma.[21] Lemann is a director ofEndeavor's Brazil office. Endeavor is an international non-profit development organization that finds and supports high-impact entrepreneurs in emerging markets. Later he and his partners, who founded private equity companyGP Investimentos,[1] bought control of two Brazilian breweries (Brahma beer andCompanhia Antarctica Paulista [pt]) that becameAmBev. In 2003 AmBev had a pretaxprofit margin of 35 percent on sales of US$2.7 billion. By 2004, it controlled 65 percent of the Brazilian beer market and almost 80% of Argentina's, with monopoly positions in Paraguay, Uruguay, and Bolivia.[22]
AmBev merged withInterbrew of Belgium in August 2004. The stock of the combined firm,InBev, rose 40 percent during 2005. InBev then announced it would buy the American brewer Anheuser-Busch in 2008 for $46 billion in a highly controversial deal, making it the world's largest brewer,Anheuser-Busch Inbev (abbreviated asAB Inbev) securing Lemann's status as one of the new "Kings" of beer.[23]
Lemann is a board member ofLojas Americanas S.A. and was a former board member ofGillette (where he first worked withWarren Buffett); chairman of the Latin American Advisory Committee of theNew York Stock Exchange; founder and board member of Fundação Estudar,pt which provides scholarships for Brazilian students; and a member of the international advisory board ofDaimlerChrysler.[citation needed]
Lemann is a co-founder of Brazilian investment firm3G Capital, which owns brands such asBurger King,Anheuser-Busch andHeinz.[5] In September 2010, 3G launched a $4 billion bid, at a 45% premium over market, for all the stock ofBurger King. "3G was advised in the BK offer byLazard,JPMorgan Chase,Barclays Capital and the law firmKirkland & Ellis. 3G already has some experience in burgers and fries, having previously invested inWendy's."[24] Together withBerkshire Hathaway, 3G Capital acquired theH. J. Heinz Company for $28 billion in 2013. Its new CEOBernardo Hees is a former manager of Burger King.[25] The same group announced the merger ofKraft Foods with Heinz in March 2015.[26] He was on the board ofKraft Heinz until 2021, when he announced he was leaving to reduce his travel commitments.[27]
In March 2023, following an increase inAmbev's market cap, he once again became the richest person in Brazil.[6]
In 2002, Lemann founded the Lemann Foundation, which in 2025 funded the creation of the Lemann Center at theUniversity of Zurich.[28][29]
Lemann married twice and has six children, three with his first wife and three with his second wife Susanna.[30] He usually shares his time betweenSão Paulo,Rapperswil-Jona onLake Zurich,[1] where his family lives, andSt. Louis,Missouri.[31][32]
In 1994, he suffered a heart attack at age 54.[11] In 1999, several gunmen attempted to kidnap his children on their way to school.[14] The incident prompted Lemann to relocate permanently to Switzerland.[14] According to a report, "his children still attended school that day and Lemann was only a little late to the office."[20]
Lemann rarely gives interviews or appears publicly, and is little known in the United States.[33] However, according toBloomberg, Lemann has a reputation as a "business-class hero" in Brazil, who described him as "the wiry, white-haired conglomerateur who’s partBuffett, partSam Walton, partRoger Federer."[11][34][35]
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