Jorge Gerdau Johannpeter (born December 8, 1936) is a Brazilian businessman and a former executive of

Gerdau Gerdau S.A. is the largest producer of long steel in the Americas, and the 33rd largest steelmaker worldwide, with approximately 13 million tons of production in 2023. Gerdau uses mini mills, integrated mills, and direct reduced iron plants; 71 ...

. He has since been an advisor to the

government of Brazil The Federal Government of Brazil (''Governo Federal'') is the national government of the Federative Republic of Brazil, a republic in South America divided into 26 states and a federal district. The Brazilian federal government is divided into th ...

under Lula da Silva and

Dilma Rousseff Dilma Vana Rousseff (; born 14 December 1947) is a Brazilian economist and politician who served as the 36th president of Brazil from 2011 until her impeachment and removal from office on 31 August 2016. She is the only woman to have held the ...

. In 2012, his net worth was estimated to be R$1,87 billion ($926 million).

Biography

Early life and education

Jorge Gerdau Johannpeter was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1936. He is the great-grandson of

João Gerdau João Gerdau (born Johannes Heinrich Kaspar Gerdau, 14 November 1849 - 24 November 1917) was a German-born Brazilian businessman and the founder of Gerdau. Biography Early life and education Gerdau was born in 1849 in Altona, Hamburg, Germany, ...

, the founder of

. He earned a Bachelors from the

Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul The Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (, UFRGS) is a Brazilian public federal research university based in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. UFRGS is among the largest and highest-rated universities in Brazil, having one of the largest nu ...

in 1958.

Career

Jorge Gerdau Johannpeter began working at

at age 16 and was the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

from 1983 to 2006. He was chairman until 2015. He is also president of the Chamber of Management Policies, Performance and Competitiveness (CGDC), an organization linked to the

President of Brazil The president of Brazil (), officially the president of the Federative Republic of Brazil () or simply the ''President of the Republic'', is the head of state and head of government of Brazil. The president leads the executive branch of the ...

. As a member of the

government, he has advocated the reduction in the number of

ministries Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

, which he considered to be excessive.

Sports

Jorge Gerdau was a

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

until 2009. He was the owner of the ''Haras Joter'', which in 1996 placed three animals of his creation in the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. His son André Bier Gerdau Johannpeter won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

in the competition of

show jumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes shows ar ...

(team). Gerdau is also an aficionado of

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suita ...

, a sport he practiced in

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...

from the early 1960s.

Awards

* Great Cross (

National Order of Scientific Merit The National Order of Scientific Merit () is an honor bestowed upon Brazilian and foreign personalities recognized for their scientific and technical contributions to the cause and development of science in Brazil. It was instituted on March 16, 19 ...

), 2002 * Juran Medal (

American Society for Quality The American Society for Quality (ASQ), formerly the American Society for Quality Control (ASQC), is a society of quality professionals, with more than 30,000 members, in more than 140 countries. History ASQC was established on 16 February ...

), 2010 * Gold Medal (

Americas Society The Americas Society is an organization dedicated to education, debate, and dialogue on the Americas. It is located at Percy R. Pyne House, 680 Park Avenue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and was established by David Rockefeller in 1965. ...

), 2012

Controversies

In October 2002, it was announced that a company controlled by Jorge Gerdau Johannpeter had been received a loan of R$ 45.3 million from

without shareholder approval. The loan was granted at market rates and repaid in full in August 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johannpeter, Jorge Gerdau 1936 births Brazilian people of German descent Brazilian Roman Catholics Businesspeople from Rio de Janeiro (city) Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul alumni Gerdau family Living people Recipients of the Great Cross of the National Order of Scientific Merit (Brazil)