Nubank’s Cristina Junqueira is 2nd Brazilian entrepreneur in Forbes list

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – After Nubank’s (NU) debut on the New York Stock Exchange, the digital bank’s co-founder Cristina Junqueira joined Forbes magazine’s list of billionaires, with US$1.3 billion.

The wealth estimated by the magazine would be enough to place Cristina among the 10 wealthiest women in Brazil in its latest list, from August, ahead of Camila Bueno Grossi (R$7 billion), shareholder of Dasa and Amil, and Gisele Trajano (R$7.2 billion), one of the Onofre Trajano’s heirs, a member of the family that founded Magazine Luiza (MGLU3).

Cristina is the second Brazilian woman to become a billionaire with her own business, according to the magazine.

The first was Luiza Trajano, president of the board of directors of Magalu, and who had an estimated fortune of R$23.5 billion in the magazine’s latest billionaires ranking.

Like Nubank co-founder and CEO David Vélez, Junqueira controls the company through super-voting shares, which are unlisted and have 20 times the voting rights of the outstanding papers in the market.

However, the value of these shares is the same as the listed ones.

She also holds 0.1% of Class A shares, which are listed on the stock market.

CRISTINA’S TRAJECTORY

Currently pregnant with her third child – a girl, due in February 2022 – Cristina Junqueira, 37, had a track record in the financial market before joining Colombian David Vélez to found Nubank.

For a decade, between 2003 and 2013, she worked in strategic consulting and in traditional banks.

She worked as a systems analyst, superintendent, and manager in the credit card area at Itaú (ITUB4), which was surpassed by Nubank in market value.

This experience within the bank was crucial to trace the paths that would lead the fintech to prominence, founded in 2013.

Initially, Nubank was intended to be a counterpoint to traditional financial institutions, with lower fees and less bureaucracy.

The fintech currently has some 48 million customers.

The executive took her two daughters to New York last week to accompany Nubank’s debut on the stock exchange.

In the days preceding the IPO (initial stock offering), she recounted intense days, with over 10 meetings with investors. “The NuSócios program (which entitled clients to buy shares) was very complex.”

“We will continue to be non-conformist, there will always be complexities for us to solve, to improve people’s lives,” Cristina said, pointing out that non-conformism to the financial system is what led to Nubank’s creation.

“We started, everyone said it was impossible, that we couldn’t do it. And I love it, they told me it was impossible, so I would show that it is (possible),” she said.