The following is a list of prominent entrepreneurs who found niche markets to exploit in Latin America and where they happen to be leaders in their respective industries:
- Alberto Baillères González “The Silver King”: single largest refiner of silver through his Industrias Peñoles’ controlled subsidiary in Mexico while registered, domiciled and trading in London known as Fresnillo PLC.
- Germán Larrea Mota-Velasco “The Copper King”: single largest holder of mineral rights for the mining of copper. In fact, his controlled listed conglomerate in Mexico known as Grupo México S.A.B. de C.V. contains over 300 million metric tons of proven and probable reserves of copper ore throughout the Americas and in Spain. Moreover, the core mining division comprises three copper mining companies operating in the US, Mexico, Peru and Spain. In the US alone, Grupo Mexico operates several mines on American soil through its unit owned in full known as ASARCO LLC. The latter stands for American Smelting and Refining Company. On the other hand, being a multinational in its own right while currently constituting the third largest copper miner worldwide in terms of output when including the state-owned CODELCO in Chile, the conglomerate operates five railroads under its listed Mexican railway division and is active in oil-field services, engineering contracting and toll road concessions through its infrastructure division owned entirely in Mexico. The core mining division alone holding controlling economic interests in two mining concerns and complete ownership of ASARCO is known as Americas Mining Corporation and generates around $ 10 billion a year in total consolidated sales. The most important of the two economic interests is the control of a copper miner known as Southern Copper Corporation operating in Mexico and Peru while listed in Peru and here in America as an ADR on the NYSE under the ticker symbol (SCCO).
- Lorenzo Servitje Sendra “The Baking King”: controls the biggest baking business worldwide comprising an outstanding Mexican multinational and owner of several prominent brands known as Grupo Bimbo S.A. de C.V. The company trades in Mexico and reports sales that reach $ 15 billion a year.
- Juan Francisco Beckmann Vidal “The Tequila King”: inherited the José Cuervo tequila distillery in Mexico and expanded the leading brand worldwide while sharing ownership of the privately-held company with his son Juan Domingo Beckman Legorreta.
- The González Moreno family “The Corn Kings”: heirs to the fortune the late Don Roberto González Barrera built, they inherited a controlling economic interest in one of the two biggest processors of corn globally and industry leader maker of corn-flour as well as tortillas known as Gruma S.A.B. de C.V. Only Frito-Lay Corporation, the fully-owned snacks division of PepsiCo Corporation, is ahead of it in the global market processing corn. Moreover, Gruma trades in Mexico and reports sales that reach $ 5 billion a year.
- Álvaro Noboa Pontón “The Banana King”: owns the privately-held company known as Exportadora Bananera Noboa S.A. shared along with his sister Isabel Noboa Pontón de Loor through their holding concern registered off-shore in the Caribbean known as Fruit Shippers Limited. Moreover, the Ecuadorian company happens to be one of the two largest net exporter of bananas worldwide including the ownership of an impressive fleet of specialized bulk carrier vessels for the transportation of the premium tropical fruit across continents. The other banana exporting company worth mentioning is a Guatemalan concern known as the Molina Group. The latter in turn is fully owned by the Guatemalan conglomerate known as Agroindustrias HAME S.A. Founded by the late Don Hugo Alberto Molina Espinoza and hence the abbreviation of the company’s name after him, the privately-held agribusiness conglomerate is active in the palm oil trade being the industry leader in Latin America, banana agriculture, avocado plantations, plantain cultivation and food processing through its wholly-owned subsidiary known as Alimentos Regia S.A. The company employs over 25,000 Guatemalan nationals.
- Julio Ponce Lerou “The Lithium King”: single largest holder of mineral rights for the mining of lithium in the Atacama Desert through control of the publicly-traded company in Chile known as Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. The control is exercised through his listed local holding company known as Sociedad de Inversiones Pampa Calichera S.A. Moreover, the mineral rights in question have enormous strategic value after discounting the future and increasing use of the mineral in years to come. In addition, the company trades as an ADR on the NYSE under the ticker symbol (SQM).
- Roberto Angelini Rossi “The King of Kraft Pulp”: controls one of the two biggest net exporters of bleached and unbleached kraft pulp globally, both of them marketable by-products of radiata pine. Accordingly, trailing only the American multinational known as International Paper Company Corporation in this forestry segment and known as Celulosa Arauco y Constitución S.A., the company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of a well-known listed conglomerate in Chile known as Empresas Copec S.A. after being responsible for roughly half the total consolidated sales the latter reports annually of around $ 20 billion. Altogether, Empresas Copec is a national champion and the biggest company in Chile in terms of sales. Sharing control of the conglomerate with his sister Patricia Angelini Rossi through a publicly-traded holding company in Chile known as AntarChile S.A., they inherited these business interests from their late uncle Don Anacleto Angelini Fabbri, an Italian immigrant who fought in Ethiopia during World War II and emigrated to Chile after the war with his brother Gino, the deceased father of Roberto and Patricia Angelini Rossi. Moreover, the control of AntarChile S.A. is exercised through their wholly-owned holding company in Chile known as Angelini y Compañía Limitada.
- The Feffer brothers “The Kings of Eucalyptus Pulp”: the four brothers, namely David, Daniel, Ruben and Jorge Feffer, control one of the two largest net exporters of eucalyptus pulp globally known as Suzano Papel e Celulose S.A. In fact, this type of pulp is gaining substantial demand worldwide because is a lot softer than wood pulp making it more suitable for the production of tissue paper which has a wide range of applications among households. Moreover, the company trades in Brazil and here in America as an ADR on the NYSE under the ticker symbol (SUZ). Likewise, the company owns sizable landholdings consisting of vast tree plantations in Brazil operating several pulp and paper mills there while reporting sales exceeding $ 5 billion a year now representing a majority share of output from exports done globally. The other eucalyptus pulp player worth mentioning is a publicly-traded company in Brazil known as Fibria Celulose S.A. The latter is controlled by the privately-held conglomerate known as Votorantim Industrial S.A. in partnership with the Safra banking clan through one of their investment vehicles.
- Joseph Safra “The Banking King”: member of a banking dynasty of Sephardic Jews that hail from Syria, he is the single richest banker worldwide deriving the bulk of his fortune from the ownership of banks. In fact, his privately-held Safra Group headquartered in Greater São Paulo, Brazil comprises an opulent network of commercial, investment and private banks scattered throughout the Americas as well as in Europe along with strategic non-core investments in Israel. In addition, the Safra Group participates in several other business ventures including prime real estate investing and eucalyptus pulp.
- José Luis Cutrale “The Orange King”: inherited one of the two biggest producers of orange juice globally known Sucocítrico Cutrale Limitada. According to industry sources, based in Brazil the closely-held company is responsible for at least 5% of orange juice production worldwide and roughly a third of Brazilian frozen orange juice concentrate exports alone. The other Brazilian orange juice producer worth mentioning is Citrosuco Paulista S.A. The latter is owned in its entirety by the prominent privately-held conglomerate in Brazil known as Votorantim Industrial S.A.
- Rubens Ometto Silveira Mello “The Sugar King”: controls the single largest processor of sugarcane and ethanol distiller known as Cosan S.A. The company trades in Brazil and here in America as an ADR on the NYSE under the ticker symbol (CZZ) consisting of a vast grid of sugarcane plantations, sugar mills, sugar refineries, ethanol distilleries, storage facilities, bagasse-fired power plants, control of a railroad company, thousands of ethanol filling stations nationwide and ownership of seven seaports in Brazil amounting to $ 15 billion a year in sales. In addition, the company has an impressive crushing capacity of over 50 million tons of sugarcane per year and maintains plantations of cotton, corn and soybeans in several Brazilian states.
- Jorge Paulo Lemann “The Beer King”: controls along with Brazilian partners Marcel Hermann Telles, Carlos Alberto Sicupira, Alexandre Behring and Roberto Thompson Motta the world’s biggest brewer known as Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V. The control is exercised through their privately-held investment holding concern based in the US known as 3G Capital Corporation. Moreover, while the listed company based in Belgium and trading in the Euronext Brussels, Mexico and here in America as an ADR on the NYSE under the ticker symbol (BUD) reports sales exceeding $ 40 billion a year, it has operations in several countries constituting a powerful multinational and owner of various national as well as international leading brands.
- José Batista Sobrinho “The King of Beef”: controls along with his two grown sons, Wesley and Joesley Batista, the biggest producer of beef worldwide known as JBS S.A. The giant meatpacker reports massive total consolidated sales of more than $ 40 billion a year, trades in Brazil and comprises robust pasture landholdings, cattle feedlots, tens of millions head of cattle, slaughterhouses, packing plants and refrigerated storage facilities around the world. In addition, the Brazilian meatpacker has an impressive capacity to slaughter over 50 thousand head of cattle everyday.
- Blairo Maggi “The King of Soybean supplying the export market”: single largest net exporter of soybeans through ownership of the booming agricultural concern in Brazil known as Grupo Amaggi S.A. Moreover, he shares ownership of the privately-held company with his mother Lucia Borges Maggi, sister Marli Maggi Pissollo, brother-in-law Itamar Locks and brother-in-law Hugo Ribeiro. Likewise, the company operates its own self-sufficient transportation network on the mainland including a fleet of tugs and barges utilizing Brazilian rivers while reaching seaports in the Atlantic with cost-efficiency. In addition, the company owns cotton and corn plantations as well throughout several states in Brazil.
- Eraí Maggi Scheffer “The King of Soybean in terms of crop yield”: single largest producer of soybeans in terms of output through ownership of the prominent agricultural champion in Brazil known as Bom Futuro Agrícola Limitada. Moreover, the privately-held company gears around half of its soybean harvest towards supplying the domestic market in Brazil in need of animal feed. In addition, the giant company is active in the cotton trade being the industry leader in Brazil along with ranching operations and incursion in fish farming.
- Roberto Urquía “The King of Processed Soybean”: single largest net exporter of soybean-oil and soybean-meal in the world holding a market share globally of roughly 5% and almost an entire third of Argentine output alone through ownership of a vertically integrated and privately-held agro-industrial concern in Argentina known as Aceitera General Deheza S.A. Only the listed multinational on the NYSE under the ticker symbol (BG) and domiciled off-shore in Bermuda known as Bunge Limited is ahead of it in the global market processing oilseeds. Moreover, Aceitera General Deheza operates its own railroad while owning a modern web of eight barn complexes, a biodiesel plant and seven oilseed, cereal and vegetable processing facilities located throughout several provinces in the Argentine republic including an important participation in the sunflower seed, peanut, cereal and food processing businesses as well.
- The Lucci brothers “The Lemon Kings”: the two brothers, Daniel and Pablo Lucci, own the single largest net exporter of lemons and one of the biggest worldwide processing the citrus fruit as well after producing and exporting various of its industrial derivatives including oils, juice, pulp and peel. Overall, the privately-held agribusiness and agro-industrial Argentine concern known as Citrusvil S.A. produces an output of 260 thousand metric tons per year of lemon fruit and derivatives while directly employing over 5,000 farmers during the harvesting season alone in the subtropical province of Tucumán located in the far Northwest Region of Argentina. The latter is also the flagship wholly-owned subsidiary of Grupo Lucci S.A., a privately-held conglomerate in Argentina with activities of incursion spanning several agribusiness segments including ranching operations, the sugar business, sorghum cultivation, soybean agriculture, cotton plantations, cereal agriculture, chickpea cultivation, bean tilling and walnut farming.
- Luis Pagani “The King of Candy”: single largest net exporter of candy through ownership shared along with his siblings of the closely-held confectionary multinational in Argentina known as Arcor S.A.I.C. The company’s payroll reaches a staggering head count of 20,000 employees.
- Paolo Rocca “The King of Steel Pipes”: Italian citizen residing in Argentina, he leads by himself and controls along with his brother Gianfelice, his nephew Lodovico Rocca, first cousins Enrico and Roberto Bonatti and two non-relatives the single largest manufacturer of welded and seamless steel pipes used in building pipelines and pumping petroleum out of the ground in oil drilling rigs respectively known as Tenaris S.A. Domiciled in Luxembourg with several wholly-owned subsidiaries throughout the world as well as stock listings on various exchanges including the NYSE, as an ADR under the ticker symbol (TS), the company fetches approximately $ 20 billion in market value and reports around $ 10 billion a year in sales. In addition, the control of the steelmaker along with its sister corporations under their parent conglomerate known as the Techint Group is exercised through a privately-held holding company registered in Luxembourg as well known as San Faustin S.A. The latter in turn is controlled by a privately-held holding company registered off-shore in the Caribbean known as Rocca & Partners S.A.
- Eduardo Eurnekian “The Airport King”: single largest operator of airports in terms of number of concessions held. The Argentine airport operator owned by him is known as Corporación America Airports S.A. and runs 52 airports scattered throughout several countries in South America, Italy and Armenia. Other notable areas of incursion of his wholly-owned conglomerate in Argentina known as Corporación America Internacional S.A. include ranching operations, soybean cultivation, cereal agriculture, biodiesel production, upstream oil operations, wineries, home building, toll road concessions, civil engineering contracting, manufacture of semiconductors employing nanotechnology and active investments in Armenia including the national postal service concession there.
- Alex Fort Brescia “The King of Fish”: controls along with his brother Bernardo, his three sisters, his mother Rosa Augusta Brescia Cafferata, aunt Ana Maria Brescia Cafferata and first cousins Fortunato, Pedro and Mario Brescia Moreyra the world’s biggest net exporter of fish-oil and fish-meal known as Tecnológica de Alimentos S.A., also known by its acronym as TASA. The Peruvian company trades in Peru and reports around $ 3 billion a year in sales while possessing a modern fleet of nearly a hundred fisher vessels operating in the Pacific along with its own shipyard and about a dozen fish processing plants in Peru.
- Henry Eder Caicedo “The King of Shrimp”: owns the biggest contiguous shrimp farm in the world located in Cartagena, Colombia. Altogether, the Colombian company belongs to his agribusiness and agro-industrial privately-held conglomerate passed down through four generations in Colombia known as Manuelita S.A. The latter is active in the sugar trade, ethanol distillation, the palm oil business, biodiesel production, grape cultivation, asparagus agriculture, mussel farming and shrimp farming with operations in several countries besides Colombia consisting of Brazil, Peru and Chile. The shrimp farming operation alone is known as Océanos S.A. and comprises 148 production pools covering over a thousand hectares while producing an output of ten thousand tons of shrimp per year, 90% of it exported to the US, Japan and several countries in Europe. Moreover, Manuelita employs over 5,000 Colombian nationals with a total workforce reaching 10,000 employees when including foreigners working in its operations abroad.