Meet the richest people in Latin America

Although the pandemic caused many people to fall into poverty, the reality is that there are others who came out stronger . A report by the organization Oxfam revealed that some tycoons not only remained immune to the economic crisis, but also increased their profits.

For example, at least 73 of the billionaires that exist in Latin America and the Caribbean increased their fortunes by a total of 48.2 billion dollars in the first half of the year. All this, at the same time, that it is estimated that some 52 million people will fall into poverty as a result of the economic crisis.

In the same way, El País recently indicated that a member of that select group died. It was Joseph Safra, the richest man in Brazil, who was a banker and founder of the Safra group, with a fortune of 23,500 million dollars at the time of his death, which occurred at the age of 82. For this reason, we decided to investigate who are the richest people in Latin America.

Luis Carlos Sarmiento (Colombia)

One of the best-known bankers in Colombia, but also one of the richest. How did he do it? Through the largest conglomerate in the country, known as Grupo Aval, which has Banco de Bogotá, Banco Popular, Banco de Occidente, among others.

From Forbes, they declare that the organization is not only dedicated to the banking sector, but they also invested in the civil and hotel business, having more than 90,000 employees at their disposal. They even bought the newspaper El Tiempo, the largest in the country. His assets are estimated at approximately 10.8 billion dollars.

Ricardo Salinas Pliego (Mexico)

His fortune was obtained through the actions obtained as executive director of Grupo México, the largest mining company in the territory and the fifth largest copper producing company on the planet, although that is not all.

Currently, we know that this institution decided to expand into the infrastructure and rail transport sectors, but also into the world of cryptocurrencies. In Ambito they indicate that 10% of his liquid fortune is mainly bitcoin. His estimated net worth is $ 12.8 billion.

Also read: Are Mexico's international reserves at risk?

Iris Fontbona (Chile)

The only woman on this list. She is the Chilean businesswoman widow of Andrónico Luksic, who had generated a huge fortune thanks to his diversified businesses, although mainly concentrated in mining, until his death in 2005.

Currently, Fontbona has an estimated fortune of $ 19.1 billion. In this way, she is the matriarch of the Luksic group, which makes her one of the most millionaire businesswomen in the world, even exceeding the total profit that Donald Trump has.

Carlos Slim (Mexico)

Finally, we have the most recognized personality of this entire group, but also the richest. His fortune is truly superior to all the previous ones since this 80-year-old man has approximately 58.2 billion dollars, which he was able to acquire thanks to the largest Latin American mobile telecommunications company: América Móvil.

At this time of coronavirus, he was one of the most prominent personalities in helping to create a vaccine, all thanks to the contribution of the Slim Foundation. Therefore, we saw that, especially in this adverse economic context, some people can not only maintain their wealth, but also increase it.