Forbes Brasil released this week the 13th edition of its ranking of the country's billionaires. The list has 255 names, 55 fewer than the 300 counted in 2025, with a combined fortune of R$ 1.53 trillion (roughly US$ 290 billion), according to the magazine. The top did not change: Eduardo Saverin, who cofounded Facebook with Mark Zuckerberg, remains Brazil's richest person for the third year in a row, with an estimated fortune of R$ 162.9 billion, Folha de S.Paulo reported.
Second place went to Vicky Safra and family, controllers of Banco Safra, with R$ 130.6 billion. She is the only woman in the top ten and trails Saverin by R$ 32.3 billion. Next come Jorge Paulo Lemann and family (3G and Ambev, R$ 103.5 billion), André Esteves (investment bank BTG Pactual, R$ 66.1 billion), brothers Fernando Roberto and Pedro Moreira Salles (Itaú, R$ 50.3 billion and R$ 46.6 billion), Marcel Herrmann Telles (3G and Ambev, R$ 38.8 billion), Miguel Krigsner (cosmetics maker O Boticário, R$ 35.7 billion) and Carlos Alberto Sicupira and family (3G and Ambev). According to G1, the top ten also has a debut: Ricardo Faria, a businessman known as the "Egg King", who built his fortune in egg production and entered the group in this edition.
Newcomers and how the math works
Five names join the 2026 list. Luana Lara, founder of Kalshi, an American prediction-market platform, appears with R$ 13.4 billion and is already the country's second-richest woman, according to Folha. Also entering are Rosangela Maggi Schmidt, of the agribusiness group AMaggi; Ari de Sá Cavalcante Neto, of education company Arco Educação; and the heirs of Daycoval bank, Carlos Moche Dayan and Salim Dayan.
Of the 255 billionaires, 146 grew their fortunes compared with the previous ranking, 77 lost money and 27 held steady, according to Forbes. The 50 women on the list hold a combined R$ 329.2 billion. The magazine calculates fortunes from public information, relying mainly on stock market values as of June 30, 2026. Real estate, art, planes and boats are left out of the math in most cases, and the publication itself admits the figures may be underestimated.
Where the money comes from
The shape of the list shows where Brazilian capital sits. Banks account for four of the biggest fortunes in the top ten: Safra, BTG Pactual and the Moreira Salles brothers of Itaú, the country's largest private bank. The 3G trio, tied to brewer Ambev, holds three more spots. Agribusiness gained new representatives, with the arrival of AMaggi, one of the largest grain producers in Brazil, and the rise of Ricardo Faria into the top ten. According to G1, the state of São Paulo is home to 95 billionaires, followed by Rio de Janeiro with 37 and Minas Gerais with 20.
The generational contrast also stands out. The oldest on the list, João Jacob Vontobel, whose family founded Coca-Cola bottler Vonpar, and Daniel Miguel Klabin, heir to pulp and paper maker Klabin, are both 97. The youngest, Amelie Voigt Trejes, from the controlling family of industrial motor manufacturer WEG, is 21, according to G1.
Read from the business end, the list confirms that Brazil's biggest fortunes remain tied to companies that sell directly to consumers, such as banks, brewers and cosmetics brands, and to groups that buy from rural producers, like the agribusiness names new to the ranking. The drop from 300 to 255 billionaires in one year points to a pullback at the top of the pyramid, with no change in the origin of the money: finance, consumer goods and farming still account for most of the capital.