José de Sousa Cintra

Who is José de Sousa Cintra?

José de Sousa Cintra, known professionally as Sousa Cintra, is a Portuguese businessman. He is a former and 42nd President of Sporting Clube de Portugal.

He was born in the village and parish of Raposeira, Vila do Bispo Municipality, in the Algarve region. As a child he worked as a snail trader in his village, and at 15 years old he went to Lisbon where he obtained a job at Hotel Tivoli Lisboa as an elevator operator. While working there, he earned a larger amount of money selling watercolor paintings on the side. When 16 years old he joined the Portuguese Navy and served for four years. After the Carnation Revolution of 1974, Cintra saw a number of his assets expropriated but eventually acquired Águas Vidago, a mineral water company. Between 1989 and 1995, Sousa Cintra was the chairman of Sporting Clube de Portugal and became popular as well as a successful businessperson.

In 1998 he bought a beer factory in São Paulo and shortly after he built another in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His beer business in Brazil reached the break even point and was ranked number four in a short span of time.