Joseph Safra (‎; 1 September 1938 – 10 December 2020) was a Swiss-based Lebanese Brazilian banker and billionaire businessman of

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

descent. He was Brazil's richest man and the richest banker in the world, running the Brazilian banking and investment empire,

Safra Group The J. Safra Group is a conglomerate comprising an international network of companies controlled by the Vicky Safra family, comprising banking and financial institutions and industrial operations. It is present in the United States, Europe, th ...

. Joseph Safra was the chairman of all Safra companies, among them Safra National Bank of New York and

Banco Safra Banco Safra is a Brazilian financial services company headquartered in São Paulo. It is the seventh largest banking institution in Brazil and the nineteenth largest in Latin America. It provides services in investment banking, private banking, ...

headquartered in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, Brazil. In August 2020, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' reported Safra's estimated net worth at US$22.8 billion, the 52nd richest person in the world and richest in Brazil.

Early life

Joseph Safra was born and raised in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

, Lebanon to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family that, according to Safra family's own sources, originally came from

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

, Syria, and with banking connections dating back to Ottoman times.Kasmira Jefford
Gherkin bought by Safra Group: Meet the Brazilian-Lebanese billionaire behind the £700m deal
'' City A.M.'', 11 November 2014 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. The Safra family moved to Brazil in 1952.

Career

In 1955, Joseph's 23-year-old brother, Edmond Safra, and his father, Jacob Safra, started working in Brazil by financing assets in

. However soon, Edmond Safra separated from his brothers Joseph and Moise and headed to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

where he founded the Republic National Bank of New York (which he later sold to

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...

in 1999 and donated most of his money to the Edmond Safra Foundation). Joseph Safra founded

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. He remained the chairman of the

, offering banking services throughout Europe, North America, and South America, until the end of his life.

Property

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. In 2014, Safra paid more than £700 million to buy

The Gherkin 30 St Mary Axe, previously known as the Swiss Re Building, is a commercial skyscraper in London's primary financial district, the City of London. Its nickname, The Gherkin, is due to its resemblance to gherkin, the vegetable. It was completed ...

, one of the most distinctive towers in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

. He proposed to build the

Tulip Tulips are spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes in the ''Tulipa'' genus. Their flowers are usually large, showy, and brightly coloured, generally red, orange, pink, yellow, or white. They often have a different colour ...

, a skyscraper in London, but the city's mayor rejected it in 2019. He founded the Jewish Brazilian school of Beit Yaacov in 2001.

Business holdings

* Chiquita *

** J. Safra Sarasin ** Safra National Bank of New York

Personal life

Safra was a resident of

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, Switzerland.In 1969, he married Vicky Sarfati. They had four children: Jacob J. Safra, (married to , son of Sasson Dayan), Alberto J. Safra, and David J. Safra. Jacob is responsible for the international operations while David manages Banco Safra in Brazil. Safra died on 10 December 2020 in São Paulo at the age of 82. He had

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

References

External links

Meet Joseph Safra, The Richest Banker On The Planet
an
The Safra Dynasty: The Mysterious Family Of The Richest Banker In The World
on

Business Insider ''Business Insider'' (stylized in all caps: BUSINESS INSIDER; known from 2021 to 2023 as INSIDER) is a New York City–based multinational financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Inside ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Safra, Joseph 1938 births 2020 deaths Brazilian Sephardi Jews Brazilian people of Lebanese-Jewish descent Brazilian people of Syrian-Jewish descent 20th-century Sephardi Jews 21st-century Sephardi Jews Mizrahi Jews Lebanese people of Syrian-Jewish descent Lebanese people of Syrian descent Lebanese emigrants to Brazil Syrian emigrants to Brazil Syrian Jews Brazilian bankers Brazilian billionaires Safra family