Belmiro de Azevedo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Belmiro Mendes de Azevedo (born 17 February 1938) is a Portuguese entrepreneur, ranked by Forbes as the 605th richest person in the world (2008), as well as the richest in Portugal, with an estimated wealth of US$2 billion. He owns Sonae SGPS, one of the largest business groups in Portugal, which also operates in Spain, Greece, Germany, Italy, and Brazil
Sonae is a Portuguese leader in real estate and retailing and also has investments in telecommunications, tourism, venture capital, and the media. In 2006, Sonae launched an unsuccessful hostile bid to control Portugal Telecom (PT), the number one Portuguese telecommunications operator.
Azevedo, a carpenter and a tailor's son, has a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Porto and an MBA from Harvard University. He is married to Margarida Teixeira and father of three children: Paulo, Nuno, and Cláudia.
Azevedo's shares were acquired to the estate of late banker Afonso Pinto de Magalhães who, through his bank Banco Pinto de Magalhães, fully owned Sonae. Magalhães put Azevedo in charge of Sonae during the turbulent years following the 1974 Carnation Revolution that culminated in the seizure of the company by the Government. It was the success in keeping the company running during these years, plus the also successful reclaiming of the company ownership, that led the deceased banker's family to cede the control of Sonae to Azevedo, but not before a protracted legal battle between him and the banker's sons, whom Azevedo accused of incompetence and cockiness[1].
[edit] External links
 |
This European business-related biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 |
This Portugal biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
