SAO PAULO (FFN) – Brazilian media mogul Silvio Santos, who rose from a humble street vendor to become the owner of a vast business empire, including one of Brazil’s largest TV channels, passed away at the age of 93, as confirmed by his broadcaster, SBT, on Saturday.
“Today heaven is happy with the arrival of our beloved Silvio Santos,” SBT announced on X. “Rest in Peace, you will always be eternal in our hearts.”
According to the medical report, Silvio Santos succumbed to bronchopneumonia in the early hours of Saturday after being hospitalized in Sao Paulo with H1N1 flu since the beginning of August.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva expressed his condolences on X, describing Silvio Santos as “the greatest personality in the history of Brazilian television and one of the country’s great communicators.”
Born Senor Abravanel, Silvio Santos founded the SBT TV channel in the 1980s, which became one of the top three most-watched TV stations in Brazil, challenging TV Globo, one of the largest media conglomerates in the Americas.
Unlike many media moguls, Silvio Santos was a charismatic showman, regularly hosting his own TV shows until around 2022. He was well-known for hosting popular game shows, particularly favored by lower-income families. One of his most famous antics was throwing paper planes made of money bills into the audience, sparking excitement and competition among viewers.
Silvio Santos, the son of Sephardic Jewish immigrants from the former Ottoman Empire, began his career as a teenager selling plastic covers for cards on the streets of Rio de Janeiro. His potential was spotted by a radio station, where he was hired as an announcer. He transitioned to television, hosting shows on local channels in the 1960s and 1970s, including TV Globo, before founding SBT TV in 1981.
His business empire extended beyond media, encompassing a cosmetics company, a financial firm, and real estate assets. In 2016, Forbes valued his wealth at over $1 billion.
In 2001, Silvio Santos made headlines when he was kidnapped for seven hours by a criminal who had earlier taken his daughter hostage. The kidnapping was broadcast live by local TV stations, further cementing his legendary status in Brazilian media.
Silvio Santos is survived by his six daughters, two from his first marriage, including one who was adopted, and four from his second marriage with Iris Passaro Abravanel.
Photo: Palácio do Planalto from Brasilia, Brasil, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
