Seventeen people made it back to the Latin Trade Top 100 Billionaire ranking, a sign of the region’s slow but steady recovery, and of stronger currencies.
Among them are Brazil’s Nevaldo Rocha, founder of Grupo Guararapes, one of the region’s largest textile and garment companies.
Joining Rocha back in the ranking is Mexico’s Rufino Vigil González, chairman of steel firm Industrias CH. The company has seen positive results through its subsidiary Simec and its operations in Brazil.
A few of the business moguls in the ranking saw triple-digit growth in their fortunes from last year. One such case is Maria Helena Moraes Scriptilliti, co-owner of Brazilian conglomerate Votorantim Group.
Another notable case is the 121 percent growth in the fortune of Julio Ponce Lerou, principal shareholder of Sociedad QuÃmica y Minera de Chile, SQM.
But it wasn’t good news for everyone. One of the notable losses in the fortunes are Ricardo Salinas Pliego, founder and chairman of Grupo Salinas in Mexico(Elektra, TV Azteca). His fortune dropped 16 percent.
For his part, Bolivian-Brazilian entrepreneur Miguel Krigsner, president of cosmetic company O Boticário, lost 25 percent of his fortune.
The full ranking includes the names, fortunes and percentage changes from last year, plus new features including average age, rankings by country and sources of wealth.
