There Can Be No Stability Without Equality, Says Brazil's Richest Man

04/27/2016 - 10h18

"We will never have stability while we have inequality," said the Brazilian businessman Jorge Paulo Lemann in a lecture at Harvard University.

Lemann, who is worth $30.9 billion, is Brazil's richest man and is 19th on the Forbes global rich list. The 76-year-old is a shareholder at Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer.

For Lemann, the reduction of inequality should be "Brazil's greatest dream". "I live in Switzerland, and it's great to live in a much more equal society."

He recognized that most Swiss are upper class. "They are rich, there are few poor people, but despite not being equal, they have the same opportunities. They all study in the same schools, they go to the same doctors. It's a much happier society."

When asked if Brazil can use the current crisis as an opportunity to improve, Lemann said "I think there's going to be much political change in the next two years. It's a chance for new faces, new people and new ideas to emerge."

Lemann said he regrets not having been more politically active in his life, but that he will leave that to young people. "Go and sort out Brazil. If we get together groups of people that think differently, but that maintain a dialogue, and are pragmatic, we will be able to build a fantastic country."

Translated by TOM GATEHOUSE

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	Scott Olson - 9.jul.2015/AFP
	Jorge Lemann