Eike Batista

Eike Fuhrken Batista, more commonly Eike Batista or simply Eike (Governador Valadares, November 3, 1957), is a Brazilian business baron. He has founded companies in different business sectors, mainly in mining. He is the son of Eliezer Batista da Silva, a longtime head of mining company Vale. As of 2010, he is the eighth richest person in the world

Biography

Born in Brazil, Batista spent most of his childhood in Europe. He lived in Germany from 1969 to 1980, and began studying engineering there at Aachen University but dropped out of college without completing his degree. In 1980, he moved back to Brazil to begin a gold and trading company in the Amazon. Shortly after he joined Canadian mining firm TVX Gold, making and then losing a fortune, before finally selling his stake in the company for $1 billion in 2000. Afterward he reinvested in several businesses, including mining.^[3] A large portion of his wealth was made from OGX, an oil and gas exploration company founded in 2007.^[2] In 2010, he became the wealthiest person in Brazil, with an estimated fortune of US$27.0 billion, making him the fourth richest person living in the Americas and the eighth richest person in the world according to Forbes Magazine.^[1]

[edit]Personal life

He married the famous Brazilian actress, Playboy cover girl, and carnival queen Luma de Oliveirain 1991 and had two children with her, Thor and Olin, before divorcing in 2004.^[4]

Batista is known for maintaining a high profile. He is outspoken about his target of becoming therichest person in the world.^[5] His donations often make headlines, as when he bid R$ 500,000 on a suit used by President Lula on inauguration day, with proceeds going to charity.^[6] Batista pledged to donate R$ 20 million yearly, for five years, to the Pacifying Police Unitprogram in Rio de Janeiro.^[7]

Batista is superstitious, with a particular fondness for the number 63, the Sun, and the letter X, that is featured in all his companies' names for its supposed money-attracting quality.^[5]

Batista's oil company OGX will start oil production next year. The company was created in 2007. The first time a company has started oil production in such a short time.

He and his older son Thor Batista love speed boats. Batista owns a 48 foot kevlar/carbon fiber made Catamaran with two 1600 horsepower twin-supercharged V8 engines. The boat is capable of reaching speeds of over 160 miles per hour.

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