Fortunes of 10 richest families up €3.5Bn
The wealth of Portugal’s top 10 richest families grew by €3.5Bn in 2021.
This is partly because they control stock market listed companies that closed 2021 in the black, with family fortunes increasing.
These families’s fortunes climbed €3.5Bn to €14.2Bn last year as share markets recovered. The winners on the Lisbon stock market included Jerónimo Martins, owner of the Pingo Doce supermarkets closing 2021 up 45% on 2020. The fortune of the Soares dos Santos family also increased by €102 million to €2.2Bn.
The Azevedo family which owns Sonae (shopping centres and other real estate) increased in value by €660 million, spreading the gains that the direct Sonae Group holding received, as well as from its shareholdings in other companies.
Controversial Luanda leaks Angolan tycoon Isabel dos Santos also saw her wealth increase. According to the newspaper Negócios, her 26% shareholding in telecoms company Nos was worth €458 million in 2021, €74 million more than in 2020. The entrepreneur also made €37 million in dividends, although this amount has been frozen.
The Queiroz Pereira family, shareholder in Semapa (paper pulp and paper, cement, building materials and venture capital), became €213 million richer in 2021 because its shares did well.