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The man regarded as the world's richest banker, whose financial group owns London’s Gherkin building, has died aged 82.
Lebanese-born banker Joseph Safra, who built an empire of over $85 billion in banking assets, died of natural causes in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Thursday.
Safra “leaves a legacy that will be followed by many generations,” his company Banco Safra said in a statement.
Joseph Yacoub Safra was born in 1938, in Beirut, Lebanon. A low profile but totemic figure in the financial industry, Safra came from a Jewish banking family with roots in Aleppo, Syria.
The Safra family dynasty began its foray into the financial world by financing camel-caravan traders in the Ottoman Empire.