Joseph Safra

Banker

Birthday September 1, 1938

Birth Sign Virgo

Birthplace Beirut, Lebanon

DEATH DATE 2020-12-10, São Paulo, Brazil (82 years old)

Nationality Lebanon

#48341 Most Popular

1938

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

He was Brazil's richest man and the richest banker in the world.

He ran the Brazilian banking and investment empire, Safra Group.

Joseph Safra was the chairman of all Safra companies, among them Safra National Bank of New York and Banco Safra headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil.

1952

The Safra family moved to Brazil in 1952.

1955

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

Joseph Safra founded Banco Safra in 1955 and today it is reportedly the 6th largest private bank in Brazil.

1969

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.

1999

However soon, Edmond Safra separated from his brothers Joseph and Moise and headed to New York City where he founded the Republic National Bank of New York (which he later sold to HSBC in 1999 and donated most of his money to the Edmond Safra Foundation).

2001

He founded the Jewish Brazilian school of Beit Yaacov in 2001.

Safra used to live in Geneva, Switzerland.

2006

In 2006, Joseph Safra acquired the remaining shares of Banco Safra from his brother Moise Safra.

He remained the chairman of the Safra Group, offering banking services throughout Europe, North America, and South America, until the end of his life.

2013

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.

2014

In 2014, Safra paid more than £700 million to buy The Gherkin, one of the most distinctive towers in the City of London.

2019

He proposed to build the Tulip, a skyscraper in London, but the city's mayor rejected it in 2019.

2020

In August 2020, Forbes reported Safra's estimated net worth at US$22.8 billion, the 52nd richest person in the world and richest in Brazil.

Joseph Safra was born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon to a family of Sephardic Jewish background originally from Aleppo, Syria, with banking connections back to Ottoman times.

The family's history in banking originated with caravan trade between Aleppo, Beirut, Alexandria, and Istanbul during the Ottoman Empire.

Joseph Safra died on 10 December 2020 in São Paulo at the age of 82.

He had Parkinson's disease.