Henrique Meirelles

Henrique de Campos Meirelles (born 31 August 1945) is a Brazilian manager and former Minister of Finance and an executive of the Brazilian and the international financial sectors and former president of Central Bank of Brazil (Portuguese: Banco Central do Brasil) where he remained in office from 2003 to 2011. He chairs J&F's board of directors, company that owns Banco Original, JBS and Vigor, among others. He is also a member of the board of directors of Azul Brazilian Airlines.

Meirelles was the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB)'s candidate for president of Brazil in the 2018 elections.

Biography Meirelles, is the son of Hegesipo de Campos Meirelles, former attorney of Banco do Estado de Goiás and Diva Silva de Campos, a wedding gown designer.

He left the city of Goiânia to study civil engineering at the School of Engineering of the University of São Paulo (Portuguese:Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo) in São Paulo, where he graduated in 1972.

In 1974, he completed an MBA in Business Administration from Coppead Institute at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Portuguese:Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro), UFRJ.

His career began in 1974 at BankBoston, where he worked for 28 years, with national and international operations.

In 1984, with appointment by a BankBoston board member, Meirelles attended the six-week Advanced Management Program (AMP) at Harvard Business School. Meirelles also received an honorary title as doctor by Bryant College.

In 1996, Meirelles moved to Boston, Massachusetts, and assumed the position of President and COO of BankBoston worldwide. He held the position until 1999.

While in the United States, Meirelles was one of the most popular members of Bill Clinton's court case.

Considered one of the most respected figures in the Brazilian business environment, in early 2012, Meirelles received 12 job offers from the private sector, among them was the presidency of Barclays and Goldman Sachs banks in Brazil.

His electoral success and the support of the international financial market received throughout his professional career in the private sector, caused Meirelles to be appointed by President Lula to the office of president of Brazil's Central Bank – Banco Central do Brasil (BCB). In 2003, Meirelles resigned as congressman in Goiás and left PSDB to become president of BCB. Meirelles led Banco Central do Brazil during the eight years of President Lula's administration and, in November 2010, he announced his departure.

In 2005, he was the first president of the CBC to formally obtain the status of State Secretary. In early 2010, Meirelles ruled out a possible candidacy as governor of Goiás with the democratic party PMDB, at the request of President Lula who asked him to devote himself to the control of Banco Central until the date when he had to leave the role in order to run for elective office in early April 2011.

In 2011, three months after the announcement of his departure from the leadership of BCB, and at the invitation of President Dilma Rousseff, Meirelles took office in the Public Olympic Council. His function, with a 4-year term, was to coordinate all investments for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. With a budget of R$30 million, Meirelles acted with autonomy in the coordination of federal, state and municipal construction work until 2014.

In 2014, Meirelles was invited by the PMDB candidate to the government of SP, Paulo Skaff, to compete in the Senate in their political platform. Meirelles denied the request.

Also in 2015, there were rumors that Meirelles would have been appointed by former President Lula to be Secretary of Finance during the 2nd term of President Dilma Rousseff's administration, starting in January 2015. This was not achieved and Joaquim Levy took the office.

In mid-2015, following internal dissension in the executive power and friction in Congress, rumors re-emerged that Henrique Meirelles could be a strong possibility of replacing finance secretary Joaquim Levy, head of the Ministry of Finance.

When Michel Temer became the interim president, in May 2016, Henrique Meirelles was nominated Minister of Finance and Social Security. Meirelles's party, the Brazilian Democratic Movement, announced in May 2018 his pre-candidacy for the presidency of Brazil. On 2 August 2018, he officially became the party's candidate for president. In September 2022, Meirelles was hired by cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

Management at Banco Central do Brasil

With operations during the eight years of Lula's government (2003–2010), Meirelles was the President of Brazil's Central Bank (BCB) who held the longest office.

Meirelles presented inflation rates within the target set by the National Monetary Council in every year of his tenure, except in 2003, when there was a "deterioration of expectations." because of a market reaction to Lula's lead in the presidential race.

At the end of his two mandates in 2009, Henrique Meirelles was credited responsible for reducing inflation by half and interest rates to the lowest level in history.

Batista entrusted Meirelles with the task of professionalizing the company by creating more independent decision-making mechanisms. Meirelles was also delegated the responsibility of expanding inside and outside the country, by demanding results from the executives and defining strategies aimed at opening the company's capital in the future.

With the announcement of Meireles' arrival, JBS's shares rose by 4.4%. J&F Group ended the year 2011 with a turnover of R$65 billion, around 145 thousand employees and businesses in more than 22 countries.

Original Bank initiated in 2015 a project led by Meirelles to transform it in a 100% digital bank, where there will be no branches and all services will be offered through their website.

Other positions Chairman of J&F Investimentos. Board member of Lloyd's of London. Advisor of the dean of John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. President Emeritus of the Brazilian Association of International Banks.

Personal life Meirelles is considered to be restless and a workaholic. He sleeps only five hours per night and performs late-night meetings.

Awards and honors Brazilian of the Year in Economy – IstoÉ magazine. 2008 – Emerging Market Awards – Best Central Banker for Latin America 2010 – Personality of the Year – Prêmio Lide