Compared to other self-made billionaires, Joseph Safra’s story is not from rags to riches. Born in Beirut, Lebanon, his family is a wealthy Jewish Lebanese banking name. Their family riches even trace back to the Ottoman Empire where they started their history by banking with caravan trade between the cities of Istanbul, Aleppo, and in Alexandria.
It was in 1952 that their family moved to Brazil. Headed by Jacob Safra and brother Edmond, the family started putting up their business in the country in 1955 through financing assets in Sao Paulo. Joseph Safra started his own empire in that same year through the founding of BancoSafra which today is reported to be the 6th largest private bank in Brazil. Edmond later on moved to New York to create his own Republic National Bank of New York. He later on sold this asset to HSBC in 1999 and donated most of the proceeds to the Edmond Safra Foundation.
Joseph acquired the remaining shares of the Safra Group from his brother Moise Safra and he currently sits as the chairman of the board of all the Safra companies. His oldest son Jacob is the one overseeing the family bank holdings in New York and Europe. His two other sons Alberto and David are now the ones responsible for safekeeping BancoSafra in Brazil which is now primarily focused on private banking.
His net worth is estimated to be around $15.9 billion. He has also ventured into the real estate business and owns the office portion of 660 Madison Avenue in Manhattan.