Jorge Paulo Lemann, the banker who now claims the title of Brazil’s richest man, built his fortune by overseeing takeovers of two icons of U.S. consumer culture: Budweiser beer and the Burger King fast-food chain.
The 73-year-old Swiss-Brazilian surpassed commodities tycoon Eike Batista after shares of Anheuser Busch InBev NV, the world’s biggest beer manufacturer, crested 67 euros in trading Nov. 30. Since Burger King Worldwide Inc. returned to being a publicly traded company in June, its stock is up 11 percent. Lemann commands a net worth of $18.9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, making him the planet’s 36th-richest individual.
