Álvaro Sobrinho
Sobrinho in 2014
Born
Álvaro de Oliveira Madaleno Sobrinho

1962 (age 61–62)
Luanda, Angola
Occupation(s)Banker, businessman
Known forFounder of Planet Earth Institute[1]
SpouseAnna Sobrinho
Children2
Websitealvaro-sobrinho.com

Álvaro de Oliveira Madaleno Sobrinho (born 1962) is a Portuguese Angolan[2][3] banker and businessman that developed his career in Portugal.[4] He rose to prominence as director of Portuguese bank Banco Espírito Santo that went bankrupt in 2014.

He went on to lead Banco Valor Angola and invested in a number of businesses in Africa and invested in Portuguese football club Sporting CP and two Portuguese newspapers. He also founded the Planet Earth Institute Foundation in Mauritius with the President of Mauritius.

Early life and education

Sobrinho was born in Angola and moved to Portugal to study Mathematics and Statistics at Universidade Nova de Lisboa. In Portugal he met Ricardo Salgado who mentored him and helped to develop his career.[4]

Career

Following a decade-long tenure with Grupo Banco Espírito Santo, Sobrinho became a director of Banco Espírito Santo (BES) in Lisbon (aged 38). Following this, he played a key role in creating the subsidiary in Angola, known as Banco Espírito Santo

In 2013, Sobrinho took charge of Banco Valor Angola as its Executive Chairman[5] although later stood down[6] from executive roles to focus on other business investments. Banco Valor is reportedly the 13th largest bank in Angola.[7]

In July 2014, the Portuguese weekly newspaper Expresso reported that BESA did not know to whom it had extended loans worth US$5.7 billion – around 80 percent of its debt portfolio – during the mandate of previous chief executive Álvaro Sobrinho, who left the post in October 2012.[8]

In 2015 Sobrinho was cleared of these allegations related to the collapse of the bank.[9] and has continued to battle for compensation from the Expresso news outlet.[10]

Personal life

Sobrinho holds large investments in telecommunications with YooMee Africa and the media industry with Newshold Group,[11] as well as additional ventures including publishing, manufacturing, retail, travel business and renewable energies. In 2015 Sobrinho was sported to have driven an investment related to exploration drilling in Ethiopia and Kenya.[12]

Sobrinho owns Holdimo, a company with (as of August 2017) the largest private shareholding of Portuguese sports club Sporting CP.[13] In a 2018 interview, Sobrinho said that he and Holdimo would do "everything in their power" to remove the then-president of Sporting, Bruno de Carvalho, from his position,[14] following the poor performance of the football team and tensions between supporters after the violent attack by Sporting fans on the team's players and manager at their training ground on 15 May that year.[15]

Sobrinho is involved with philanthropy in Africa, as the Founding Chairman of the Planet Earth Institute (PEI) in London.[16] The Planet Earth Institute is accredited to the United Nations Environmental Programme and its mission is the "scientific independence of Africa".[17]

In 2015, Sobrinho had been appointed as Business Champion for African Science by the World Bank.[18]

Sobrinho has donated to other Africa-focused charities and programs,[19] including the Duke of Edinburgh International Award and GAVI Alliance.[20]

in 2015, The Planet Earth Institute launched the Planet Earth Institute Foundation in Mauritius, with Dr Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, former President of Mauritius, as its vice-chairman. The PEI Foundation awarded scholarships to Mauritian researchers.[21]

Allegations

Estoril Sol

Portuguese authorities had investigated Sobrinho when he was the chairman of Banco Espírito Santo Angola (BESA in relation to his use of an overseas company to purchase six apartments in the Estoril Sol Residence[22][23] complex in Lisbon, Portugal, with an initial payment of €9.5 million.[24][25]

During the investigations, the apartments were seized by court order, but were later returned to Sobrinho because of lack of evidence.[26]

Monte Branco

Sobrinho was also a shareholder of Swiss wealth management company Akoya Asset Management, which featured briefly in the Monte Branco investigation into tax evasion.[27]

Sobrinho ordered an investigation from the Swiss authorities, that cleared him and all non-executive shareholders of wrongdoing.[28][29]

References

  1. ↑ "Planet Earth Institute de Álvaro Sobrinho e a demissão da Presidente das Maurícias | DW | 29.03.2018". Deutsche Welle.
  2. ↑ "Participação da Holdimo na SAD do Sporting ficará reduzida a metade". www.record.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  3. ↑ "As maiores cauções da justiça portuguesa". Jornal de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  4. 1 2 "Álvaro Sobrinho: o preferido de Salgado que cresceu nos negócios em Portugal" [Álvaro Sobrinho: Salgado's favorite who grew up in business in Portugal]. Expresso50. 4 June 2015.
  5. ↑ "BANCO VALOR À distância de um Gesto". Bancovalor.ao. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  6. ↑ "Álvaro Sobrinho sai da liderança do Banco Valor" (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  7. ↑ "Banking Review 2016 | Deloitte Angola | Article". Deloitte Angola (in Portuguese). Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  8. ↑ "Grupo Espírito Santo. Álvaro Sobrinho suspeito de desviar centenas de milhões de euros do BESA". PÚBLICO (in Portuguese). Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  9. ↑ Dr Álvaro Sobrinho beats allegations following collapse of Banco Espírito Santo. bloomberg.com. 4 July 2014
  10. ↑ Allegations dismissed for Banco Espírito Santo's Angola CEO. cpifinancial.net. from 8 April 2015
  11. ↑ "Newshold reduz posição na Cofina para 12% – Media – Jornal de Negócios". Jornaldenegocios.pt. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  12. ↑ "Hotspur Geothermal | Exploring for and producing affordable, clean, and sustainable energy | News". www.hotspurgeothermal.com. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  13. ↑ Onishi, Norimitsu (22 August 2017). "Portugal Dominated Angola for Centuries. Now the Roles Are Reversed". The New York Times (in Portuguese). ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 31 August 2017. In Portugal, he became the major shareholder in Sporting Lisbon, a major soccer team, and also bought two newspapers.
  14. ↑ Group, Global Media (19 May 2018). "Álvaro Sobrinho promete fazer tudo para tirar "malfeitor" Bruno de Carvalho da SAD". DN (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  15. ↑ "Sporting Lisbon 'condemn aggression' after reports players were attacked". BBC Sport. 15 May 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  16. ↑ "The Planet Earth Institute welcomes new Trustees | Planet Earth Institute Worldwide". 26 October 2012. Archived from the original on 26 October 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  17. ↑ Álvaro Sobrinho. "Time for an African science agenda? – This is Africa". Thisisafricaonline.com. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  18. ↑ "African Governments and Business Leaders Join to Launch Regional Scholarship and Innovation Fund". World Bank. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  19. ↑ "Álvaro Sobrinho Africa". Dr Álvaro Sobrinho. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  20. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  21. ↑ "President Fakim and PEI launch PhD scholarship programme". Info-Communication. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  22. ↑ Morais, Rafael Marques De (29 July 2012). "Angola: The Angolans' Building in Estoril Sol". Maka Angola (Luanda). Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  23. ↑ "O Prédio dos Angolanos no Estoril Sol" (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  24. ↑ Morais, Rafael Marques De (29 July 2012). "Angola: The Angolans' Building in Estoril Sol". Maka Angola (Luanda). Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  25. ↑ "O Prédio dos Angolanos no Estoril Sol". Maka Angola. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  26. ↑ "Tribunal devolve casas a Álvaro Sobrinho" (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  27. ↑ "O que é a Akoya Asset Management?" (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  28. ↑ Simões, Sónia. "Akoya, a financeira investigada no processo Monte Branco vai ser dissolvida" [Akoya, financial institution investigated in the process Mont Blanc will be dissolved]. Observador (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  29. ↑ Rosa, Luís. "Álvaro Sobrinho alvo de nova apreensão de bens por suspeitas de branqueamento de capitais". Observador (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 21 May 2018.
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