The Aguiar family is one of Brazil’s most successful and recognisable in the business sphere. The family is synonymous with Banco Bradesco, one of Brazil’s largest financial services organisations, which was founded by family patriarch Amador Aguiar in 1943. Born near Sao Paulo in 1904, Amador grew up in poverty as one of 12 siblings. He ran away to seek a better life at the age of 16 and soon started earning his way with jobs he found in the area. In 1943, Amador Aguiar founded Banco Brasileiro de Descontos in the city of Marília. By 1951, he had grown it into the largest private bank in Brazil. Amador and his wife had three adopted daughters, twins Lina Maria Aguiar, Lia Maria Aguiar and then Maria Angela Aguiar Bellizia. Around the time of Amador’s death in 1991, a legal battle was brewing over the family’s vast multibillion fortune. Amador has recently married his secretary, Cleide de Lourdes Campaner Aguiar, and updated his will to leave the bulk of the fortune to her. A two-decade court battle raged on over the question of the rightful heirs. At various times, both sides appeared to have secured victory. In the end, a majority went to the philanthropic Bradesco Foundation, launched by Amador in 1956 to benefit education in Brazil. Forbes valued Lina and Lia’s net worth to be $4.5 billion.
