2012 Mining Billionaires: #13 Antonio Ermirio de Moraes

#13 Antonio Ermirio de Moraes & family

Antonio Ermirio de Moraes heads up the Sao Paulo’s Votorantim Group, a private family-owned company founded just after the WW1 as a textile factory.

Forbes estimates his net worth at $12.2 billion putting him at 67th in the world and third in Brazil. De Moraes has fathered nine children and is a product of the Colorado School of Mines.

Unlike many family firms, the 83-year old respected chairman of the board, does not appoint relatives to executive positions in the conglomerate’s sprawling operations which cover steel, base metals particularly zinc and some gold and silver projects in Peru and nickel in Brazil, agriculture, pulp and paper, banking, energy (it runs 33 hydro-electric plants) and cement.

2010 revenues for the group was $17.6 billion and the company employs close to 100,000 workers.

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