Brazil’s Richest Man Loses Billions as His M&A Machine Breaks Down
The collapse of retailer Americanas casts a harsh light on the cost-cutting business model that Jorge Lemann created at 3G Capital.
An Americanas retail outlet in São Paulo.
Photo: Alamy
It wasn’t too long ago that Jorge Paulo Lemann was arguably the most respected—and feared—corporate baron on Earth. The Brazilian billionaire and his two longtime business partners were scooping up multinational giants at a frenetic clip and folding them into the vast empire they built from Rio de Janeiro.
In 2008 it was Anheuser-Busch InBev. In 2010, Burger King. Then came H.J. Heinz, Tim Hortons, Kraft Foods Group and, finally, in 2016, the biggest of them all: brewer SABMiller. With each new acquisition, Lemann, inspired by his idol, former General Electric Co. Chief Executive Officer Jack Welch, would order up deep cost cuts. Perks were eliminated, payrolls slashed, factories shuttered.