trades. He established himself as a salesman, contacting producers in the Amazon area and buyers in large metropolitan centers in Brazil and Europe. When he was 23 years old, he started a gold trading firm, called Autram Aurem, using the Inca Sun as the company trademark and symbol. A year and a half later, the company had earned US$6 million. He implemented the first mechanized alluvial gold mining plant in the Amazon, marking the beginning of the EBX Group. At age 29, he became CEO of TVX Gold, a company listed on the Montreal Stock Exchange, initiating his relationship with global capital markets. From 1980 to 2000, he created US$20 billion in value with the operation of eight gold mines in Brazil and Canada and a silver mine in Chile. Between 1991 and 1996, the value of his company more than tripled. Personal life Batista married the model Luma de Oliveira in 1991, and divorced her in 2004. They had two boys, Olin and Thor. He later dated businesswoman and lawyer Flávia Sampaio for several years, with whom he had a third son in 2013, named Balder. Batista enjoys running, swimming and practices marine sports. In the 90s, he was the Brazilian, U.S. and World Champion in the Super Offshore Powerboat class. In 2006, he covered the 220 nautical miles between Santos and Rio de Janeiro in 3h01m47s and beat the record for the course in his boat, the Spirit of Brazil. Batista maintains an active digital life, with a personal site with articles, videos and news about his companies. The digital channel that Batista has chosen as his primary means of personal communication is Twitter. In 2011, Batista released the book The Heart of the Matter (O X da Questão) which recounts his trajectory in the business world and offers tips on entrepreneurialism. National and international rankings In 2011, Batista was listed by Forbes magazine as the 8th richest person in the world and the richest person in Brazil. His wealth was at one time estimated at US$30 billion. Batista was also featured in Bloomberg Markets magazine as the only Brazilian on the list of the 50 most influential people in global finance, published for the first time in September 2011. The magazine focused on people “whose comments move markets; whose deals set the value of companies or securities; whose ideas and policies shape corporations, governments and economies”. At