MSN Brasil by Beatriz Capirazi - 09/15/2023
By Equipe de Redação
Posted in September 15, 2023
The Forbes list of Brazilian billionaires highlights Weg, Itaúsa, and Suzano as the largest ESG companies generating wealth. Photo: Dieter Gross/Estadão © Provided by Estadão.
With the ESG agenda (acronym in English for Environment, Social, and Corporate Governance) becoming the focus of the business world, major companies worldwide are investing in this area to appeal to an increasingly demanding audience and to thrive in a competitive market.
A total of 20 Brazilian companies with this focus that make up the investment portfolio of the Corporate Sustainability Index (ISE) of B3 are listed in this year’s Forbes list of Brazilian Billionaires.
According to the list released in September, the multinational manufacturer of electrical and electronic equipment WEG tops the ranking of ESG companies that have generated the most billionaires, with 29 individuals. In second place is the holding company Itaúsa, with 11 billionaires, followed by the pulp and paper company Suzano, with seven representatives.
The billionaire who profited the most from WEG’s shares was Anne Werninghaus, 37 years old, with an estimated fortune of R$ 6.23 billion. Ranking 61st on Forbes’ billionaire list, she is the granddaughter of Geraldo Werninghaus, one of the company’s three founders. After inheriting shares from her father, she became the largest individual shareholder in the company.
As for the list of billionaires from Itaúsa, which ranks second, it is led by the siblings Alfredo Egydio Arruda Villela Filho and Ana Lúcia de Mattos Barretto Villela, with an estimated fortune of R$ 9.6 billion.
Ranked 31st on the billionaire list, the two are part of the group of the largest individual shareholders of Itaú Unibanco, controlled by Itaúsa. Together, they hold 14% of the holding.
