Joseph Safra Net Worth

What is Joseph Safra’s Net Worth?

net worth:	$25 billion
date of birth:	January 1, 1938
die:	December 10, 2020
country of origin:	Lebanon
Source of wealth:	entrepreneur
Last updated:	August 5, 2024

introduce

Joseph Safra is a Brazilian billionaire banker of Lebanese descent.

Safra runs the Brazilian banking and investment empire Safra Group.

Safra is chairman of all Safra Group companies, including New York-based Banco Nacional Safra and Safra Bank, based in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

When Joseph Safra died, his net worth was estimated at $25 billion.

early life

Joseph Safra was born on January 1, 1938 in Aleppo, Syria.

The son of a Lebanese Jewish family with banking ties dating back to the Ottoman Empire, Safra grew up in Beirut, Lebanon.

The Safra family immigrated to Brazil in 1952.

In 1955, Joseph’s 23-year-old brother Edmond Safra and his father Jacob Safra began working in Brazil by financing assets in Sao Paulo.

Profession

Joseph Safra was a Brazilian-born financier, banker and entrepreneur who died in 2020 as the world’s richest banker.

The banking family had close ties to the Ottoman Empire and had been in the currency business for centuries, providing financial support to kings and queens.

After moving to Brazil, Safra founded Banco Zafra in 1955, which grew to become the sixth largest bank in Brazil.

While the Safra brothers were not one of the largest banks in the world, they created a massive fortune through acquisitions and commercial real estate.

The bank is part of the Safra Group, which has operations around the world, primarily in Europe, North America and throughout South America.

Joseph Safra faced increasing discrimination after the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict and was sent to school in England by his parents.

There he built up some good connections, and later the family decided that it would be best to immigrate to South America for safety reasons.

Moving to Brazil

Joseph’s father was based in Sao Paulo, building businesses and helping the many Jews who fled the Middle East for the more tolerant Brazil.

Joseph went to Bank of America to gain experience in modern banking and returned home in 1963 after his father’s death.

Little did he know that he would one day become one of the richest men in the world and live up to his family’s expectations and history.

Joseph and his two brothers, Edmond and Moise, continued their father’s business of providing financing to wealthy Jews, but Joseph had other plans.

He wanted to become a famous banker rather than just a financier and made some plans to realize his dream.

Joseph wanted to transform the family business into a full-fledged bank, but he and his brothers disagreed on the direction.

Unfortunately, major disagreements arose between him and his brothers, which ultimately led to Edmond leaving Brazil.

He went to New York and formed his own business, the Republic National Bank of New York, with no connection to Joseph or his brother.

Building a global banking empire

Joseph and his brother Moise took full control of the family business and founded Banco Safra in 1966, with each holding a 50% stake.

Like the symbiotic investing duo of Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, Joseph and his brother Moise are well suited to their roles.

They believe that the corporate market offers the most profitable option and attracts wealthy entrepreneurs to use their financial services.

As commercial banking grew, they expanded into personal banking as well as asset management and commercial insurance.

To grow his business, Joseph Safra needed a way to find new customers faster than traditional methods of attracting new customers.

He came up with a plan to buy up as many small banks as possible and build up his own customer portfolio through acquisitions – a faster process.

Before long, Banco Safra had branches all over Brazil, making their services quickly and easily accessible to ordinary Brazilians.

Expanding the scope of banking business

But Joseph’s vision extended beyond Brazil, and rather than becoming the bank’s CEO, he chose to become its chairman.

This freed him from the day-to-day banking operations and enabled him to focus on expanding his empire around the world.

The bank has promoted its international expansion by establishing international branches and acquiring foreign subsidiaries.

Soon after, the Safra brothers added a Swiss bank to their group, as well as banks in the Cayman Islands and New York City.

They integrated the operations of the banks into the Safra Group but retained full control through their personal stakes in the banks.

Not content to just enjoy his success, Joseph’s next plan was to diversify his risk by entering the real estate market.

Entering the commercial real estate market

The first step was to buy as much commercial real estate as possible in major Brazilian cities such as Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

He became one of Brazil’s largest commercial real estate holders and set his sights on enriching himself internationally.

Much like how Grant Cardone would build his real estate fortune years later, Joseph found undervalued assets and added them to his portfolio.

Joseph took a fancy to the historic financial district of London and acquired One Plantation Place for a whopping price of 500 million pounds.

Later, he bought the “Gherkin”, a £700 million skyscraper located at 30 St Mary Axe in the heart of London’s financial district.

He continued to make acquisitions in other major cities around the world, including Geneva, Switzerland, and New York City.