Billionaire’s Empire Unexpectedly Thrives in Top Covid Hotspot

Rubens Menin made his fortune betting on micro-homes in Brazil
Homebuilder MRV, logistics firm LOG holding up well in crisis

Rubens MeninPhotographer: Leo Drumond/NITRO via Menin

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By Felipe Marques and Cristiane Lucchesi

July 10, 2020 at 11:00 AM UTC

Updated on

July 10, 2020 at 5:10 PM UTC

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In a country where so much is going so wrong for so many people, the billionaire Rubens Menin is a very fortunate man.

Menin, 64, is Brazilian. And not only is he not one of the 1.76 million people in the country who’ve been infected with Covid-19 -- a rapidly-increasing tally that now includes the quarantining president -- but his principal business is thriving in an economy that is sinking.