André Esteves

André Santos Esteves (born July 12, 1968) is a Brazilian billionaire businessman. Among Brazilian billionaires, Esteves is ranked sixth with a net worth of US$5.4 billion, according to Forbes, as of July 2024. He currently serves as senior partner and chairman at BTG Pactual, the biggest investment bank in Latin America. As a philanthropist he is a board member of Conservation International, Inteli and Council on Foreign Relations.

In 2015, Esteves was accused of obstructing justice. In July 2018, after the Federal Public Ministry declared his innocence, he was acquitted by the Federal Court. At a meeting on April 29, 2022, the shareholders of the bank reappointed Esteves as board chairman.

Personal life
André Esteves was born into a middle-class family in Rio de Janeiro, and obtained his bachelor's degree in computer science from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Esteves has three children, and The New York Times writes that "he has driven the same Mercedes pickup for four years and takes only two weeks of vacation a year", though he also owns a Dassault Falcon private jet worth US$50 million. When interviewed about his downtime, "Esteves professes a love of his job, though he also enjoys cinema, wine and good food."

Career
After graduating from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, André Esteves joined Pactual and within "a year he was a member of the bank's foreign debt trading team, and within two he was managing IPOs and M&A deals." In 1992, Esteves made a partner for helping the bank "to post a 59 percent return on capital". UBS purchased Pactual in December 2006, and in June 2008, Esteves left the bank along with key Brazilian partners to create BTG, a global investment company. In April 2009, Esteves, along with other partners, purchased Pactual back from UBS for US$2.5 billion. He discussed these events an interview for the Creating Emerging Markets project at the Harvard Business School. Esteves arrives at his office as early as 6:30 AM and "often calls partners together for meetings as late as 10:00 p.m." He also holds regular study meetings with BTG Pactual directors at his home.

Philanthropy
James Crombie of LatinFinance writes that "Esteves supports education and environmental charities". In addition, André Esteves is a member of the Global Board of Advisors of the Council on Foreign Relations. He has also supported initiatives, projects, and institutions that aim to improve education, healthcare, and promote the arts in Brazil. Institutions like the Universidade de São Paulo, the "Hospital de Câncer de Barretos" and the Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo are among those supported by Esteves.

In April 2020, Esteves and other partners of BTG Pactual announced a donation of 50 million Brazilian reais for COVID-19 pandemic combat projects in Brazil.

Environment
Esteves is also known for his pro-environment activities, most of them in private. He is a board member at Conservation International and played an active role supporting the Amazonia Live program, a project to plant one million trees, in partnership with one of the biggest music festivals of the world, Rock in Rio.

He is part of the 5P Alliance, a group of entrepreneurs, bankers, and doctors who are working on their own to ensure the conservation of the Pantanal biome by acquiring farms in the region to preserve them. The goal is to create large ecological corridors and keep the biome as the most preserved in the country. André Esteves is the owner of Fazenda Rio Negro, which in 2001 was granted the title of Private Natural Heritage Reserve (RPPN) by the government of Mato Grosso do Sul for having several endangered species such as the giant otter, the marsh deer, and the hyacinth macaw. The property was also a filming location for the Brazilian TV series Pantanal.

Inteli
In 2021, he founded the Institute of Technology and Leadership (Inteli) with Roberto Sallouti, with the aim of providing higher education for students in the field of Technology, with emphasis on Computing, Business, and Leadership. Esteves and his family sponsored the initiative with a donation of US$38 million.

Esteves Hall
André Esteves made a significant personal donation to Harvard Business School, in order to renovate the former Baker Hall, located on the campus of Harvard University; now renamed as Esteves Hall, in honor of him. This Harvard dormitory is used by the School's Executive Education programs, which annually attract some 10,000 executives from around the globe, many from Esteves' home country, Brazil.

Prizes

 * Entrepreneur of the Year, by the Trade Association of Rio de Janeiro (ACRJ), in 2023.
 * Person of the Year by the Brazilian Chamber of Commerce of UK in 2014.
 * Entrepreneur of the Year, by "Isto É Dinheiro" magazine for two years, in 2011 and 2014.
 * Person of the Year by the US-Brazil Chamber of Commerce in 2012.
 * Appointed leader in Financial by Leaders of Brazil in 2012.
 * One of the 50 most influential people in the world by "Bloomberg" in 2012.
 * Prominent Executive in the area of banks and financial institutions by Valor Econômico newspaper for three consecutive years, in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
 * One of the most admired leaders of the Year by Carta Capital magazine for two consecutive years in 2011 and 2012.
 * One of the "100 Most Influential Brazilians " by Epoca magazine for four consecutive years, in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.
 * Personality of the Year by Latin Finance in 2010.
 * One of the 25 most influential executives in the financial sector, according to Institutional Investor survey in 2009.

BTG Pactual
BTG Pactual, bank in which André Esteves is chairman and senior partner, offers advisory services in merger transactions and acquisitions, equity, debt underwriting, asset management, wealth management, sales and trading, loans and financing (corporate lending) and fund management for clients including corporations, financial institutions, governments and high-net-worth people.

Approximately 70% of the company is owned by its partners, fostering an alignment of long-term interests with its stakeholders. The bank is also active in proprietary investments (both class of net assets as of non-liquid assets). It is recognized as one of the leading investment banks in emerging markets, the largest independent investment bank and the largest asset manager in Brazil.

Insider trading
In April 2012, André Esteves was fined €350,000 for insider trading in Italy and officials "also froze €4.2 million of Mr. Esteves's personal assets and barred him from acting as an officer in an Italian company for six months." Italy’s Consob did this because, they said, that "the 43-year-old Latin American banker bought the shares in November 2007 knowing that the group was planning to enter a joint venture with Brazilian rival JBS." This case was closed and there was no impact to the public offering. In 2012, penalties for André Esteves' insider trading "force[d] the bank to amend its prospectus, give investors the option to reconsidering bids for BTG shares, and put a cloud over one of this year's highest-profile bank deals." In "a statement, BTG Pactual said Esteves believed the allegations had no merit and was determined to appeal the decision." However, Esteves did not appeal, citing cost and a loss of time as his reasons.[32]

Pactual sale to UBS then BTG
Arthur Rutishauser in Sonntagszeitung argued that the way Esteves acquired 27% of his bank is an example of an insider case: Esteves sold the bank in 2006 for 3.1 billion SFr to UBS, where Huw Jenkins was a key decision maker and heavily involved in that transaction. Esteves later repurchased Pactual back in 2009 for 2.5 billion SF after being allowed to leave UBS to set up BTG. Huw Jenkins was ejected from UBS in 2007, then resurfaced as a senior partner and board member at BTG Pactual in 2010.

Lawsuit in Hong Kong by ex-employee
CEO of BTG Pactual André Esteves, and member of the board of directors Huw Jenkins reportedly "made fraudulent misrepresentations to get Zeljko Ivic to sign agreements with Banco BTG Pactual SA, according to a lawsuit filed with the Hong Kong High Court." Robert Tibbo, Zeljko Ivic's attorney, said that Zeljko Ivic played a key role in Banco BTG Pactual SA's initial public offering (IPO). Ivic is suing for $20 million USD compensation for the BTG Pactual shares, promised partnership and unpaid bonuses.

Involvement in Sete
On 19 June 2015, Marcelo Odebrecht, CEO of Brazil’s largest construction company, was arrested by Brazilian Federal Police on allegations relating to contracts with rigs company Sete Brazil and state oil company Petrobras. While in detention, Odebrecht attempted to pass a handwritten note to his lawyers mentioning André Esteves, implicating BTG Pactual and him in Lava Jato. Sete Brasil had seven investors, the pension funds: Petros, Previ, Funcef and Valia, besides the banks Santander, Bradesco and BTG Pactual, and the state oil company Petrobras. In the first quarter of 2015, BTG Pactual recorded a provision for the impairment to the investment equivalent to approximately 25% of its book value, which had a gross negative impact on revenues of R$280 million.

Arrest and release
On 25 November 2015, Esteves was arrested as part of a scandal investigation into Petrobras and his bank's dealings with the oil company. Three weeks later, on December 17, 2015, Esteves was released from prison. BTG's bonds and shares subsequently increased. Esteves had to remain at home until he found employment, the Brazilian supreme court said in a statement. Judge Teori Zavascki ruled that Esteves could not have any management role in any of the companies being investigated as part of the corruption probe. The names of those companies were kept sealed. Shares of BTG rose 7.7 percent to 15.62 reais at 3:55 p.m. in Sao Paulo, after gaining as much as 12 percent. The company's $1 billion of notes due 2020 rose 3.1 cents to 72.15 cents on the dollar. Esteves’s attorneys argued that he was only arrested because he's one of the wealthiest people in Brazil, according to court documents filed this month with the supreme court.

On 27 April 2016, a smiling Esteves addressed employees at Grupo BTG Pactual’s headquarters. The bank confirmed in a statement that he would be a senior partner, advising on strategy and the development of activities and operations. In his remarks, Esteves denied wrongdoing. Brazil's high court lifted that order, and Esteves’s lawyer, Antonio Carlos de Almeida Castro, said by text message that the billionaire is free of all charges and can return to the office.

Full vindication
Considered already one of the biggest judicial errors in Brazil, Esteves has been fully vindicated and acquitted of all charges. In June 28, 2017, the Chief Justice of the Brazilian Supreme Court, Gilmar Mendes, referred André Esteves' case during the plenary session of the Supreme Court, "This is a fact of which we are witnesses. I must praise the loyalty that Minister Teori Zavascki also had with this case, when he verified this is a clear case of unequivocal judicial error, about which no one speaks because only success is spoken."[74] Minister Sepúlveda Pertence was arguing and used the following expression: 'I am facing a scabrous case of judicial error'. Minister Zavascki convinced himself and decided monocratically. "How many may be in the same situation as Esteves?"

On September 1, 2017, the Federal Prosecution Service says it has not found evidence that Esteves committed the crime of obstruction of justice. "André was improperly involved in this process, the instruction proved this completely," said Antônio Carlos de Almeida Castro, Esteves's lawyer, on the request for acquittal. On July 12, 2018, Judge Ricardo Leite of the 10th Federal Court of Brasilia acquitted Esteves of the accusations of obstruction of justice for confirmation that there was insufficient evidence to corroborate the allegations. Following the acquittal, Esteves' lawyers stated that "they respect the duty of the State to investigate, however, any investigation must be conducted within due process of law, without spectacularization and without excesses. In this case, Esteves' initial arrest was completely unnecessary and abusive."