The most powerful investment banker in Latin America started out as an intern fixing computers. André Esteves, 40, Brazil’s youngest self-made billionaire, began in the IT department of São Paulo investment bank Pactual in 1989 and rapidly rose to the top.
When Pactual was sold to UBS in December 2006 for $2.6 billion, Esteves owned close to one third of it. And he collected a $500 million retention package. UBS, which clearly valued his services, put him in charge of its Latin American businesses and, in July 2007, lured him to London to run its huge global fixed-income, currencies and commodities operation.
Esteves quit in mid-2008 to co-found BTG, and this April his new bank bought Pactual from a beleaguered UBS. Having come full circle, Esteves is CEO of BTG Pactual, which has $33 billion in assets.
