Abilio Diniz was the chairman and director of several major Brazilian companies, including Península Participações, BRF, and the Brazilian operations of the French supermarket chain Carrefour.
Through his leadership positions at these companies, especially the GPA supermarket group, Diniz became one of the wealthiest people in Brazil.
In 2016, Forbes magazine ranked him as the 477th richest person in the world and the 14th richest person in Brazil.
In 2009, Época magazine named Diniz one of the 100 most influential Brazilians of that year due to his prominent business activities.
Earlier in his career, he was a partner at Companhia Brasileira de Distribuição, which owns several Brazilian supermarket chains and appliance stores.
He was also a shareholder of Casas Bahia, a major Brazilian retailer.
The unexpected passing of 86-year old Brazilian business magnate Abilio Diniz in February 2024 shocked his grieving family.
Having been admitted to the hospital for pneumonia treatment, his ultimate respiratory failure likely came without much advance warning.
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Abilio Diniz Net Worth: How Rich Was He?
According to Forbes, Abilio Diniz was worth an estimated $2.4 billion in 2023.
This huge personal fortune showed the success of the extensive business empire he built, starting from modest beginnings.
In his later years, the 86-year-old Diniz remained involved with the global Carrefour supermarket company as a board director.
In this advisory role for Carrefour’s parent company in France, he received about $51,000 in yearly pay.
Within Carrefour’s leadership team, 11 executives earned higher pay than Diniz in 2023.
The top earner was CEO Alexandre Bompard, with compensation of over $7 million to steer the company’s worldwide strategy.
The difference in salaries shows the greater importance of Carrefour’s chief executive role compared to Diniz’s director position, which offers guidance.
However, the six-figure payment Diniz still received as an octogenarian highlights the tremendous respect retail leaders still had for his lifetime business achievements, wealth, and ongoing influence.
Abilio Diniz Bio And Age
The well-known Brazilian businessman, Abilio was born on 1936, as of now, 2024, 87 years old.
Abilio dos Santos Diniz was the eldest of six children of Valentim Diniz and Floripes Pires.
His father had immigrated to Brazil from Portugal in 1929, likely in search of better economic opportunities.
Diniz attended elite private schools for his education in Brazil—the Anglo-Latino institutions, followed by the prestigious Mackenzie High School.
After graduating high school, he obtained a business degree from the highly competitive Getulio Vargas Foundation business school in 1959.
Eager to expand his knowledge, in 1965, the ambitious Diniz travelled to the United States to enrol in continuing education programmes.
He studied marketing at Ohio University and economics at the Ivy League Columbia University in New York City. These experiences likely exposed him to innovative business practices.
In 2004, Diniz published an autobiographical book recounting key moments and transformations in his life.
More details emerged in 2015 when a full biography revealed his path from childhood to climbing the corporate ladder to become one of Brazil’s most prominent executives.
It chronicled events like his high-profile departure from the Grupo Pão de Açúcar supermarket empire he once headed.
Sadly, Diniz passed away in 2024 at age 86 after being hospitalised for pneumonia.
Despite treatment at the prestigious Albert Einstein Hospital in São Paulo, he suffered respiratory failure.
However, Abilio dos Santos Diniz left behind an enduring legacy as a titan of Brazilian industry.
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