Eike Batista: Rich Man. Richest Man? - BusinessWeek

Hmm, not sure this is a great story of engineering-can-make-you-rich or anything of that sort. Officially he "got his start in gold", but as the article also notes, he's the son of one of Brazil's prominent industrialists, who also happens to be a high-level government minister (nice combination). He's making a fortune in being an industrialist. One suspects he may not be an entirely self-made man...

A solid business article. but see if you can spot the exact point it becomes a HN article:

>"In the last 20 years you have focused too much on banking and finance. The best students went to banks or law firms. Where are the engineers?"

I like the disdain when he derides Americans for not driving electric cars. He's right ... America has some serious systemic failures, despite being founded on great ideas.

No wonder he's a billionaire. Also, finding that fool-proof un-mechanized goldmine helped I'm sure... I learned that lesson at a poker table... don't play with experts, play with rich scrubs.

Nice article. Batista: a name I hadn't heard, specifically. I knew about a lot of change in Brazil, but it's amazing how much influence and opportunity can still be had in the world. His comments about the US, political gridlock and the need for engineers is insightful.

Charlie Rose is a great interviewer, too.

Is he related to Fulgencio Batista, former dictator of Cuba?

Wikipedia for once failed to enlighten me.