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Joseph Safra

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Joseph Safra
Born(1938-09-01)1 September 1938[1]
Beirut, Lebanon[2]
Died10 December 2020(2020-12-10) (aged 82)
São Paulo, Brazil
NationalityLebanese
Brazilian[3]
OrganizationSafra Group
Known forThe richest banker in the world[4]
SpouseVicky Sarfati
Children4, including Alberto J. Safra[5]
Parent(s)Jacob Safra
Esther Safra
RelativesMoise Safra (brother)
Edmond Safra (brother)

Joseph Safra (Arabic: يوسف صفرا‎; 1 September 1938 – 10 December 2020) was a Swiss-based Lebanese Brazilian[6] banker and billionaire businessman of Syrian descent. He was Brazil's richest man and the richest banker in the world, running the Brazilian banking and investment empire, Safra Group.[7][8][9][10]

Joseph Safra was the chairman of all Safra companies, among them Safra National Bank of New York and Banco Safra headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil.[5] In August 2020, Forbes reported Safra's estimated net worth at US$22.8 billion, the 52nd richest person in the world and richest in Brazil.[5]

Early life

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Joseph Safra was born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon[3][11][12] to a Jewish family that, according to Safra family's own sources, originally came from Aleppo, Syria,[13][14] and with banking connections dating back to Ottoman times.[15][16][17][18] The family's banking history began in Aleppo with the foundation of the family’s first banking house in 1841, Aleppo was one of the major hubs of commerce and a mandatory route from the East to Europe, and from the latter to Persia and inner Asia. The Safra family financed trade and exchanged currencies for tradesmen, who came to the city through the desert and the Mediterranean.[19] The Safra family moved to Brazil in 1952.[20]

Career

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In 1955, Joseph's 23-year-old brother, Edmond Safra, and his father, Jacob Safra, started working in Brazil by financing assets in São Paulo. However soon, Edmond Safra separated from his brothers Joseph and Moise and headed to New York City where he founded the Republic National Bank of New York (which he later sold to HSBC in 1999 and donated most of his money to the Edmond Safra Foundation). Joseph Safra founded Banco Safra in 1955 and today it is reportedly the 6th largest private bank in Brazil. In 2006, Joseph Safra acquired the remaining shares of Banco Safra from his brother Moise Safra.[21] He remained the chairman of the Safra Group, offering banking services throughout Europe, North America, and South America, until the end of his life.[22]

Property

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In 2013, Joseph Safra's family acquired more than a dozen properties in the United States, primarily in New York City. They also own a portfolio of commercial real estate in Brazil.[23]

In 2014, Safra paid more than £700 million to buy The Gherkin, one of the most distinctive towers in the City of London.[24] He proposed to build the Tulip, a skyscraper in London, but the city's mayor rejected it in 2019.[25] He founded the Jewish Brazilian school of Beit Yaacov in 2001.[citation needed]

Business holdings

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Personal life

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Safra was a resident of Geneva, Switzerland.[5]In 1969, he married Vicky Sarfati.[27] They had four children: Jacob J. Safra, Esther Safra [pt] (married to Carlos Dayan [pt], son of Sasson Dayan), Alberto J. Safra, and David J. Safra.[28] Jacob is responsible for the international operations while David manages Banco Safra in Brazil.[28]

Safra died on 10 December 2020 in São Paulo at the age of 82.[29][30] He had Parkinson's disease.[31]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Hojnicki, Carrie. "The Safra Dynasty: The Mysterious Family of the Richest Banker in the World". Business Insider. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Joseph Safra" (1956) and "Joseph Safra" (1956), information from the National Archives, Rio de Janeiro. Scan of Joseph Safra's Brazilian entry visa on 1956 on familysearch.org
  3. ^ a b Joseph Safra (1956) and Joseph Safra (1956), information from the National Archives, Rio de Janeiro. Scan of Joseph Safra's Brazilian entry visa on 1956 on familysearch.org
  4. ^ "Jewish philanthropist becomes Brazil's richest person".
  5. ^ a b c d "Forbes profile: Joseph Safra". Forbes. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  6. ^ Joseph Safra (1956) and Joseph Safra (1956), information from the National Archives, Rio de Janeiro. Scan of Joseph Safra's Brazilian entry visa on 1954 on familysearch.org
  7. ^ "Joseph Safra". Forbes. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  8. ^ "Bloomberg Billionaires Index – Joseph Safra". Bloomberg. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  9. ^ "Edmond J. Safra: A biography on the Sephardi Jewish legend - review". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 31 October 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  10. ^ "Joseph Safra". Forbes. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  11. ^ "Bloomberg Billionaires Index – Joseph Safra". Bloomberg. Retrieved 24 April 2019 – via www.bloomberg.com.
  12. ^ arielhauter (10 September 2017). "Joseph Safra -". ARTnews. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  13. ^ (Page 18) https://jsafrasarasin.com/content/dam/jsafrasarasin/company/bank-annual-report/annual_report_2015.pdf.coredownload.inline.pdf
  14. ^ (Page 6, 2015's version) https://www.edmondjsafra.org/book/
  15. ^ Kasmira Jefford, Gherkin bought by Safra Group: Meet the Brazilian-Lebanese billionaire behind the £700m deal. City A.M., 11 November 2014
  16. ^ "Meet Joseph Safra, The Richest Banker on the Planet". Business Insider.
  17. ^ New York Times: "INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS; The Safras of Brazil: Banking, Faith and Security" By SIMON ROMERO 8 December 1999
  18. ^ (page 28) https://publications.jsafrasarasin.com/publ-dl-ch/dl-discl?dl=381995ECA9162A691ED93C5EA7E24B5482EEA3F979F183D257B761138A22C59BAEB08CF731936604DFD5A77DA4A81D6D
  19. ^ "Our History". Safra National Bank. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  20. ^ Marques, Felipe (14 December 2020). "The death of world's richest banker thrusts heirs into spotlight". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  21. ^ "Financier Joseph Safra, Brazil's richest man, dies at 82". Reuters. 10 December 2020. Archived from the original on 10 December 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  22. ^ "Private Banker Joseph Y. Safra Dies". finews.com. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  23. ^ "Joseph Safra". Forbes. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  24. ^ "Safra snaps up the Gherkin for £726m". Financial Times. 10 November 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  25. ^ a b c d e Dolan, Kerry A. (10 December 2020). "Brazil's Joseph Safra, World's Richest Banker, Dies At Age 82". Forbes. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  26. ^ "Joseph Safra: World's richest banker dies at 82". DW. AFP. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  27. ^ "Morre aos 82 anos banqueiro Joseph Safra". Istoe (in Portuguese). 12 October 2020. Em 1969, casou-se com Vicky Sarfaty, com quem teve 4 filhos e 14 netos
  28. ^ a b "Court Accepts Charges Against Brazil Banker Joseph Safra". Jewish Voice. 27 April 2016.
  29. ^ "Financier Joseph Safra, Brazil's richest man, dies at 82". Reuters. Retrieved 11 December 2020.[dead link]
  30. ^ "Joseph Safra, homem mais rico do Brasil, morre em SP aos 82 anos". G1 (in Brazilian Portuguese).
  31. ^ "Jewish-Brazilian Joseph Safra is The World's Wealthiest Banker, Forbes – Jewish Business News". jewishbusinessnews.com. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
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