By Alexandre Inacio
How much is the show worth? The catchphrase was created by Silvio Santos to question its judges, after the performance of artists on the iconic Show de Calouros, an attraction that aired for more than 15 years on SBT, throughout the 1980s and early 90s. With due poetic license, the same question returned to circulate in law firms and banks of all sizes after the death of Senor Abravanel, on the 17th, in a attempt to measure the size of the heritage created by the businessman from Rio de Janeiro over the last six and a half decades and to conjecture about the future of the companies that today form the Silvio Santos Group.
Currently, the family holding company controls five large companies.
• The largest and most important is the television station SBT. Founded in 1981 by Silvio Santos, the company incorporated the former TVS, a concession obtained by the businessman from the military government six years earlier.
• Also within the holding are the Hotel Jequitimar, a resort built 18 years ago in Guarujá, on the coast of São Paulo,
• and Jequiti, a cosmetics company created in 2006 to compete with Natura and Boticário.
• The list includes Sisan Empreendimentos Imobiliários, responsible for managing the family’s properties and which has become a real estate development company,
• and Liderança Capitalização, best known for being the manager and operator of TeleSena.
Even though he held more than 90% of the group’s shares, for some years now Silvio Santos has been moving away not only from the stage but also from making the main decisions in his business.
Since 2022, the businessman’s youngest daughter, Renata Abravanelat the age of 39, is the chairman of the board of directors of the family holding company, replacing her father in making the main decisions. Her training to lead the businesses created by Silvio began in 2010. For a decade, she held different operational positions at Grupo Silvio Santos, until in 2020 she replaced her cousin Guilherme Stoliar as executive president. Two years later she passed the baton to José Roberto Maciel and began to dedicate herself to more strategic issues.
With the death of Silvio Santos, the expectation of some analysts consulted by DINHEIRO is that little will change in the group’s top management and that Renata will be treated as Silvio’s successor in the business.
“There was a previous concern about trying to organize the estate by drawing up a will. Even the business succession, that is, the transfer of effective control of the companies, was already being done during his lifetime. What is not clear is whether there is a general guideline regarding maintaining the group as it is today or whether this will be free, so that several shares can be sold.”he said Joyl Gondim, partner in the M&A and asset and succession structuring areas at Demarest.
This uncertainty about what might happen to the group’s specific businesses falls mainly on Jequiti. The cosmetics company had been negotiating to be purchased by Cimed, owned by businessman João Adibe Marques. However, Grupo Silvio Santos itself announced last week that the negotiations had ended. In a statement, the company said that “after a period of negotiations and constructive dialogue between the parties, it was not possible to align the interests involved to complete the agreement.” What is not clear is whether the end of the talks is a reflection of the patriarch’s death or is the result of some other reason related to the amounts involved.
CELEBRITY
Considered the jewel in the crown, SBT is the main company of the Abravanel empire and where most of the heirs work. Two daughters are in charge of the operation.
Today, the businessman’s third daughter, Daniela Abravanel Beyrutiis the most involved in management, occupying the vice-presidency, after having been artistic director of the station. Alongside Daniela is Rebecca Abravaneldaughter number five of Silvio Santos. She is the current executive director of SBT, but also occupies a prominent position in front of the cameras, presenting programs such as “Roda a roda Jequiti”.
Two other daughters still work at SBT: Silvia and Patricia Abravanel. Silvia is the businessman’s second daughter. She was adopted by him and Maria Aparecida, his first wife, and works more behind the scenes in the morning programming and children’s attractions. If Renata is the successor in the business, Patrícia is seen as the presenter’s artistic heir and the new face of SBT. Since her father stepped away from the stage, she has been responsible for presenting the Silvio Santos program, a job she has been doing since 2022.
Even though they do not work directly in the administrative part of the station, sources in the artistic sector believe that Sílvia and Patrícia will be responsible for promoting the probable changes in the programs, attractions and programming of SBT. One of the main goals will be to bring modernity to TV, through influencers and new faces for the station, possibly replacing older names that weigh on the budget.
Away from the spotlight is still Cynthia Abravanelthe oldest of all and who, for many years, said she had no interest in getting involved in business. However, she is responsible for managing the Teatro Imprensa, also part of the Silvio Santos Group.
Details about the size of Silvio Santos’ fortune are little known and divergent.
• Forbes, for example, estimated last year that the businessman has assets worth R$1.6 billion.
• A survey conducted by Folha indicated that the declared assets would be almost R$4 billion, based on documents from the Federal Revenue Service and the Commercial Board. This amount would include 35 companies in the name of the presenter himself, his daughters and also the holding company.
Regardless of the size, Silvio Santos began the division of his assets while he was still alive, leaving a will. In the document, in addition to his six daughters, he will be part of the division. Iris Abravanelthe businessman’s widow. Even though she does not have any executive role, she is entitled to part of the presenter’s assets. The size of this share will depend on the marital regime adopted, according to Maria Helena Bragaglia, partner in the conflict resolution and asset structuring area at Demarest.
CRISIS
But the Silvio Santos Group did not only accumulate successes and billions in assets. Perhaps the biggest failure of the Abravanel family conglomerate was the Panamerican Bank. The financial arm of the group for decades, Panamericano was born from the evolution of Baú Financeira, a company created by the businessman in 1969, after the acquisition of Real Sul S.A. Between 2007 and 2010, high-ranking executives created a fraudulent scheme in the financial statements, causing losses of over R$4 billion. To escape bankruptcy, the bank was forced to resort to the Credit Guarantee Fund (FDC), which made a contribution of R$2.5 billion in 2010. Months later, in early 2011, BTG Pactual announced the purchase of the bank’s controlling interest, paying Grupo Silvio Santos R$450 million for 50.8% of Panamericano. A decade later, the same BTG would pay R$3.7 billion for the remaining shares, which belonged to Caixa.
The crisis in the financial arm led the group to get rid of its oldest business, Chest of Happiness. Six months after the sale of Panamericano, Magazine Luiza paid R$83 million to take control of the chain’s 121 stores. At the time, the operation transformed the company from Louise Trajan in the second largest electronics retailer in Brazil.
Silvio Santos was one of Brazil’s greatest communicators and one of the most influential names in television. His legacy as a presenter, however, is no less than his achievements in the business world. From selling pens on the streets of Rio de Janeiro, the businessman was a banker, retailer, owner of a cosmetics company, contractor and even the owner of a television channel.
#act #Silvio #Santos #Group #positions #heiresses #conglomerates #companies