Walter Moreira Salles

Walter Moreira Salles (Pouso Alegre, May 28, 1912 – Petrópolis, 2001) was a highly successful Brazilian banker, politician and philanthropist who is considered by many as one of the premier founders of the modern Brazilian financial and banking industry.

Banking Career Overview

He was born on May 28, 1912, in Pouso Alegre, Minas Gerais. In 1926 his father, Joao Moreira Salles, established the Casa Bancária Moreira Salles (Moreira Salles Banking House) and Walther was named an acting partner in 1933 at the young age of twenty-one. During 1940, Banco Moreira Salles catalyzed its growth by merging with three regional banks and eventually changing its name to União de Bancos Brasileiros (Unibanco). Walther helped propel Unibanco to its position as one of Brazil’s top three banking institutions by implementing a strategy of successful acquisitions and an emphasis on human resources. In 1991, Walther Moreira Salles retired as Chairman of the Board, after a 60-year career, to become Honorary Chairman and take over the conglomerate's cultural endeavors. In his farewell speech, he summed up Unibanco's working ethics: "We are people serving people. As impressive as the technology available to a bank can appear to be, in the end, each electronic exchange will still bear the plain and inevitable circumstance, of people serving people."

The Instituto Moreira Salles (IMS) was launched in 1991, with an agenda focused on people and the country's social development. Moreira Salles would be the first President of the Instituto, promoting cultural programming for the public at large. A year later IMS opened the Casa de Cultura de Poços de Caldas, in the city where Casa Moreira Salles was founded.

Political Involvement

Although he is best known for activities related to finance and banking, Walther Moreira Salles was also deeply involved in Brazilian politics. He served as the country’s ambassador to the United States in the 1950s, travelling to Washington D.C. at least two times over the decade. Moreover, he was Secretary of the Treasury in the parliament cabinet of Joao Goulart and gained admiration from president Juscelino Kubitschek while conducting diplomatically incursions. During the 1950s he helped negotiate the growing problem of Brazil’s external debt on three occasions, in the governments Vargas, JK and Jânio.

Personal and Family Life

Known for his discretion, amicable character and charm, the ambassador had many famous friends, including the rock musician Mick Jagger, President Fernando Henrique Cardoso and the actress Greta Garbo. Walther Moreira Salles died in 2001, at Araras, district of Petrópolis, in Rio, of causes not disclosed by his family.

His four sons are Pedro Moreira Salles, current president of Unibanco; filmmaker Walter Salles; documentarian João Moreira Salles; and publisher Fernando Moreira Salles.

Salles was married three times, to Helène Matarazzo, Fernando's mother, whom he divorced at 28 years old; Eliza Gonçalves, mother of Pedro, Walter and João, and his wife until the early 1970s; and Lúcia, whom he married in 1986. [Wikipedia's Portuguese article on Walter Moreira Salles]

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