READERS:
What do you think about this article from Forbes? Have you heard of Eike Batista??? After reading this, what do you think about him? Comment below!
By KEREN BLANKFELD
At a conference call today
Eike Batista, Brazil’s richest man, announced to a group of reporters that his oil-and-gas exploration company’s latest natural gas discovery in the shores of northern Brazil could produce 25% of Brazil’s consumption.
This is just one of the many recent announcements about a new find made by his company OGX Petróleo e Gas Participações. This time, according to
FOXBusiness, he told reporters that “[t]he discovery was so important that I personally called President [Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva] Lula to give him the news.”
Batista is not known for being shy or modest. When I interviewed him at his sleek Rio de Janeiro office for a
profile story published in March, he told me point blank that one day soon he’d be the world’s richest man.
True to form, today’s announcement that the discovered well may hold 10 trillion to 15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, was just one of Batista’s big news flashes.
According to
Dow Jones, he also said that “he plans to make his iron-ore mining company MMX Mineração e Metalicos SA (MMXM3.BR) into “a big animal” through a consolidation of iron ore reserves.”
Furthermore, continues the report:
On Aug. 10 MMX said it acquired for $50.8 million the 60% it didn’t already own in GVA Mineracao Ltda, which has a partially processed 13.4 million ton ore stockpile in Serra Azul. Credit Suisse described the transaction as “an excellent acquisition by MMX” due to an expected rise in value of the ore.
Over the last year, Batista has experienced his ups and occasional
downs (making far fewer headlines today: MMX
posted a net loss of $23.74 million for Q2). In recent months Brazil’s growth has been slowing down and may experience some uncertainty come October 3 when the country holds its presidential elections.
About Me
I'm a Brazil-born Texas-bred writer reporting on the business and politics of ambition and wealth. As a Global Wealth Reporter at Forbes, I'm often working on our signature Forbes 400 and World Billionaires Lists. My reporting at Forbes has taken me from the Hollywood mansion of a billionaire producer who dreams of brokering peace in the Middle East to the Rio de Janeiro office of Brazil's richest man, who boasts to soon be the world's richest man. If you have story ideas or tips, please email me at kblankfeld@forbes.com.
