Antônio Ermírio de Moraes

Who is Antônio Ermírio de Moraes?

Antônio Ermírio de Moraes is a Brazilian businessman who is the chairman of the Votorantim Group; one of the country's largest companies, specialized in metals, paper, cement and frozen orange juice. He is the grandfather of IndyCar Series driver Mario Moraes.

Moraes is also the president of the Beneficência Portuguesa Hospital - located in São Paulo - which provides 60% of its services to citizens below the poverty line. His grandson Artur Freitas was recently announced as his successor in the presidency. Moraes was recently ranked number 316 on the Forbes list of billionaries, with an estimated fortune of 12.2 billion.During the course of his career, Moraes has had direct political involvement with campaigns to promote democracy, the improvement of the national health system and the generation of job opportunities. He ran for governor of São Paulo State in 1986, but lost the elections. He frequently publishes articles in newspapers and magazines of national circulation and is a member of the Academia Paulista de Letras.