Economy & Business - August 2024

When David Vélez founded neobank Nubank in Brazil just over a decade ago, he was ridiculed for trying to break into a banking sector dominated by a handful of juggernauts, the oldest of which has been around for over 200 years. He repeatedly heard singer Tom Jobim’s emblematic phrase “Brazil is not for beginners” – particularly true for a foreigner trying to navigate the country’s labyrinth of bureaucracy and taxes. Yet today Nubank has surpassed all its competitors to become Brazil’s largest bank by market worth, propelling Colombian-born Vélez to join the top 10 wealthiest people in Latin America.