Background and career
André Santos Esteves (born July 12, 1968) is a Brazilian billionaire businessman and tycoon. Among Brazilian billionaires, Esteves is ranked fourth with a net worth of US$20.2 billion, according to Forbes, as of June 2026. He is senior partner and chairman at BTG Pactual, the biggest investment bank in Latin America. Under his leadership, the firm has expanded its operations across investment banking, asset management, and, in the 2020s, commodities trading and international markets. In 2015, Esteves was accused of obstructing justice. In July 2018, he was acquitted by the Federal Court. In April 2022, he was reappointed chairman of BTG Pactual. He is a board member of Conservation International, Inteli and Council on Foreign Relations.
André Esteves was born into a middle-class family in Rio de Janeiro, and obtained his bachelor's degree in computer science from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Esteves has three children, and The New York Times writes that "he has driven the same Mercedes pickup for four years and takes only two weeks of vacation a year". When interviewed about his downtime, "Esteves professes a love of his job, though he also enjoys cinema, wine and good food." Esteves is involved in the wine industry. In 2012, he acquired the Italian winery Argiano, located in Montalcino, Tuscany, and in 2013 acquired Quinta da Romaneira in Portugal's Douro Valley. Under his ownership, Argiano adopted organic farming practices and sustainability initiatives, including the elimination of single-use plastics by 2019. In 2023, the Argiano Brunello di Montalcino 2018 was named “Wine of the Year” by ''Wine Spectator''.
As a systems analyst while attending the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, André Esteves joined Pactual in 1989 and within "a year he was a member of the bank's foreign debt trading team, and within two he was managing IPOs and M&A deals." In 1992, Esteves made a partner for helping the bank "to post a 59 percent return on capital".
UBS purchased Pactual in December 2006, and became UBS Pactual. Esteves led the Latin American operations and later moved to London, where he served as global head of fixed income, currencies, and commodities.
June 2008, Esteves left UBS Pactual along with key Brazilian partners to create BTG, a global investment company. In April 2009, they purchased Pactual back from UBS for US$2.5 billion. He discussed these events an interview for the Creating Emerging Markets project at the Harvard Business School. Esteves arrives at his office as early as 6:30 AM and "often calls partners together for meetings as late as 10:00 p.m." He also holds regular study meetings with BTG Pactual directors at his home.
According to the ''Financial Times'', the firm expanded its operations beyond traditional investment banking into commodities trading, infrastructure, and international markets. By the mid-2020s, BTG Pactual had assets under management reported in excess of US$300 billion and expanded its presence beyond Latin America through operations in Europe and North America. In September 2023, the bank completed the acquisition of 100% of the share capital of FIS Privatbank in Luxembourg for 21.3 million euros, aiming to expand its wealth management and asset management activities in Europe. In June 2024, it announced the acquisition of M.Y. Safra Bank in the United States, a transaction finalized in January 2026, granting the institution a banking license to operate directly in the North American market as BTG Pactual Bank. Additionally, in October 2025, BTG Pactual proposed a corporate reorganization to incorporate all remaining shares of Banco Pan, resulting in the cancellation of Banco Pan's public company registration and its conversion into a wholly-owned subsidiary. In interviews cited by financial media, Esteves has emphasized the strategic importance of commodities, particularly agriculture, stating that Brazil could play a central role in meeting future global food demand. Financial media have also reported that BTG Pactual has invested in building a commodities trading platform focused on flows between Latin America and Asia.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
