Brazillionaires: Wealth, Power, Decadence, and Hope in an American Country

In his first book, former Bloomberg News reporter Cuadros plunges into the world of Brazil's wealthiest citizens to explore the evolving economic and political events forming this nation as its power continues to grow. Billionaires such as business magnate Eike Batista, televangelist Edir Macedo, investor and philanthropist Jorge Lemann, and media mogul Roberto Marinho are but a few of the subjects whom Cuadros weaves into a larger narrative of a rigged system in which the "cordial man" consistently guides the direction and speed with which Brazil emerges as a global superpower. Bringing the World Cup and the Olympics to the area could have been an opportunity to improve the infrastructure and reduce inequality by expanding the middle class. Instead, argues the author, cronyism and corruption have created instability and unsanitary conditions. This is a solid companion to Juliana Barbassa's Dancing with the Devil in the City of God, which looks specifically at Rio de Janiero and the cultural extremes that continue to exist owing to many of the same issues described by Cuadros.