Budweiser wants to buy Miller - and the Brazilian private equity titan who bought Kraft, Heinz, and Burger King is behind the deal

Jul 26, 2021, 12:44 IST

Lemann was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1939. His father was a Swiss businessman who immigrated to Brazil in the 1920s.

He left Brazil to attend Harvard, earning his bachelor's degree in economics in 1961. Lemann still has a great relationship with Harvard, helping Brazilian students study there and setting up scholarships.

He left Brazil to attend Harvard, earning his bachelor's degree in economics in 1961. Lemann still has a great relationship with Harvard, helping Brazilian students study there and setting up scholarships.

After Harvard, Lemann's life was a mixed bag. He trained at Credit Suisse for a while and worked as a journalist at Brazil's third-oldest paper, Jornal do Brasil.

He was also a tennis champion. Lemann was Brazil's national champion five times. He represented Brazil and Switzerland (he has dual citizenship) in the Davis Cup. He also made it to Wimbledon.

In 1971 he bought a brokerage called Garantía.

In 1989, Lemann and company acquired the beer company Cia Cervejaria Brahma, foreshadowing things to come. In 1993, he and his partners created the buyout firm GP Investimentos and started buying and selling companies.

In 1989, Lemann and company acquired the beer company Cia Cervejaria Brahma, foreshadowing things to come. In 1993, he and his partners created the buyout firm GP Investimentos and started buying and selling companies.

Along the way, he built Garantía into a powerhouse, eventually selling it for $675 million in 1998.

That's when Lemann really blew up. He was nominated to the board of Gillette, where he met Warren Buffett.

Lemann is super private about his personal life, but we do know he moved to Switzerland in 1999 because there was an attempt to kidnap his children in Rio.

That same year, the "Three Musketeers" created AmBev, a master company of all the brewers they had collected.

Five years later AmBev merged with the Belgian brewer InterBrew for $11 billion.

Lemann and his partners founded a New York City-based firm, 3G Capital, in 2004. Three years later they merged with Anheuser-Busch for $52 billion. In 2010 they bought Burger King.

The Burger King deal was a huge success. In two years they sold 29% of the company to hedge fund manager Bill Ackman's UK investment vehicle, Justice Holdings.

It set the stage for Lemann's 2013 deal with Warren Buffett — buying Heinz. The $28 billion deal came together in six weeks. They used code names to keep it private.

That takes us to the $10 billion Heinz-Kraft deal. All signs point to more deals from Lemann. People say he changed the way business is done in Brazil.

Now meet a Brazilian billionaire who lost it all.

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Budweiser wants to buy Miller - and the Brazilian private equity titan who bought Kraft, Heinz, and Burger King is behind the deal

Lemann was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1939. His father was a Swiss businessman who immigrated to Brazil in the 1920s.

He left Brazil to attend Harvard, earning his bachelor's degree in economics in 1961. Lemann still has a great relationship with Harvard, helping Brazilian students study there and setting up scholarships.

After Harvard, Lemann's life was a mixed bag. He trained at Credit Suisse for a while and worked as a journalist at Brazil's third-oldest paper, Jornal do Brasil.

He was also a tennis champion. Lemann was Brazil's national champion five times. He represented Brazil and Switzerland (he has dual citizenship) in the Davis Cup. He also made it to Wimbledon.

In 1971 he bought a brokerage called Garantía.

In 1989, Lemann and company acquired the beer company Cia Cervejaria Brahma, foreshadowing things to come. In 1993, he and his partners created the buyout firm GP Investimentos and started buying and selling companies.

Along the way, he built Garantía into a powerhouse, eventually selling it for $675 million in 1998.

That's when Lemann really blew up. He was nominated to the board of Gillette, where he met Warren Buffett.

Lemann is super private about his personal life, but we do know he moved to Switzerland in 1999 because there was an attempt to kidnap his children in Rio.

That same year, the "Three Musketeers" created AmBev, a master company of all the brewers they had collected.

Five years later AmBev merged with the Belgian brewer InterBrew for $11 billion.

Lemann and his partners founded a New York City-based firm, 3G Capital, in 2004. Three years later they merged with Anheuser-Busch for $52 billion. In 2010 they bought Burger King.

The Burger King deal was a huge success. In two years they sold 29% of the company to hedge fund manager Bill Ackman's UK investment vehicle, Justice Holdings.

It set the stage for Lemann's 2013 deal with Warren Buffett — buying Heinz. The $28 billion deal came together in six weeks. They used code names to keep it private.

That takes us to the $10 billion Heinz-Kraft deal. All signs point to more deals from Lemann. People say he changed the way business is done in Brazil.

Now meet a Brazilian billionaire who lost it all.