Safra Family Net Worth, Members and Banco Safra

RioTimes Deep Analysis | Series: Brazil Finance Guide | Updated: Tuesday 10 November 2026

The Safra family is a Syrian-Jewish banking dynasty behind three banks that the group says operate independently of one another: Banco Safra, a São Paulo lender focused on wealthy clients and companies; J. Safra Sarasin, a Swiss private bank; and Safra National Bank of New York. Forbes, the US business magazine, puts Vicky Safra, the widow of patriarch Joseph Safra, and her family at US$24 billion on Tuesday 10 November 2026, 108th on its real-time billionaires list.

Vicky Safra and her sons Jacob and David now hold control, after a third son, Alberto, agreed in July 2024 to sell his stake and their sister Esther Safra Dayan announced the sale of hers in January 2025. The family’s banking story goes back to Aleppo in the mid-1800s, and the group bought London’s Gherkin skyscraper in 2014 and closed its purchase of most of Saxo Bank, a Danish trading platform, in March 2026.

Who Is Alberto Safra?

Alberto Safra is a Brazilian banker and one of Joseph Safra’s four children. He left Banco Safra in 2019, agreed to divest all of his interests in the family’s J. Safra Group in a settlement announced in July 2024, and now runs ASA Investments, an independent asset manager.

ASA said in August 2026 that it plans to hire about 50 people in the United States this year to serve wealthy clients. We do not state ASA’s assets under management, because published figures differ and none is confirmed.

Alberto Safra Timeline

• 2019: he leaves Banco Safra after tensions with his younger brother David.
• 10 December 2020: his father, Joseph Safra, dies aged 82.
• From 2019: Alberto alleges that his stake in the bank was diluted without his knowledge.
• 6 February 2023: he sues his mother Vicky and his brothers Jacob and David in the New York State Supreme Court.
• July 2024: the family announces a global settlement, and Alberto divests all of his interests in the J. Safra Group.

Our reports explain each step: how Alberto Safra sued his mother and siblings, the settlement that ended the feud, the capital cut at Banco Safra and the rise of ASA.

For wider context on Brazilian banking, see our Banco Master scandal timeline and our report on Brazil’s billionaires in the Forbes ranking.

From Aleppo to São Paulo: A Banking Dynasty

Safra family banking began in Aleppo, Syria, in the mid-1800s, when the family formed Safra Frères & Cie., a currency exchange house. Banco Safra’s own history page says the group has more than 185 years of banking behind it.

Jacob E. Safra (1891–1963) settled in Lebanon in 1920, after the political changes that followed World War I, and opened a new branch of the family firm there. His son Joseph, born in Beirut in 1938, would become the most consequential figure in the family’s history.

In 1953 members of the family were drawn to Brazil, and the business became Banco Safra in 1972. After their father Jacob died in 1963, Joseph and his brother Moise ran the family’s banking business.

Joseph’s elder brother Edmond pursued a separate path in New York, where he built Republic National Bank of New York, a business that HSBC, the British bank, bought in a deal that closed on 31 December 1999. Edmond died in December 1999 in a fire at his home in Monaco.

In 2006, Joseph bought out Moise’s share and unified the financial institutions the two brothers had held. The Banco Safra history page dates that step to 2006.

Joseph Safra was notoriously media-averse, preferring to let the balance sheet speak for itself. He died on 10 December 2020, aged 82, and Forbes had ranked him Brazil’s richest man and the world’s richest banker.

His widow Vicky Safra is one of the three controlling shareholders of Banco Safra, and Forbes lists her and her family at US$24 billion (global #108) on 10 November 2026. The Forbes figure is a real-time estimate that changes daily.

Banco Safra: Scale, Strategy, and Competitive Position

Banco Safra occupies a deliberate niche in Brazilian banking. Rather than competing in mass retail, the institution focuses on high-net-worth (very wealthy) individuals and mid-to-large corporates — a model that prioritizes margin quality over volume; as of 2024, the bank held R$316.9 billion (about US$57 billion at R$5.55 per dollar) in total assets.

Banco Safra’s net income attributable to controlling shareholders was R$3.4 billion (about US$610 million) in 2024 and R$4.3 billion (about US$770 million) in 2025, according to its own IFRS (international accounting standard) summaries. In 2025 the bank paid R$11 billion (about US$2.0 billion) in dividends and interest on equity, a tax-deductible shareholder payout, about seven times the prior year’s.

Banco Safra’s own website shows net income attributable to controlling shareholders of R$1.9 billion (about US$340 million) for the first half of 2026. Equity attributable to them was R$18.3 billion (about US$3.3 billion) at 30 June 2026, with R$411.3 billion (about US$74 billion) in funds raised and managed, all converted at the 10 November 2026 market close of R$5.55 per dollar.

The Swiss and New York Operations

Banco Safra is only one pillar of a three-entity global structure. Joseph Safra took over Bank Sarasin & Co. in Switzerland, which became J.

Safra Sarasin — now headquartered in Basel. By end-2024, J. Safra Sarasin managed CHF 224.2 billion (Swiss francs; about US$247 billion at end-2024 rates) in assets under management, generating CHF 504.5 million in net profit and a CET1 (core equity tier 1, the strictest bank-capital measure) ratio of 42.7%, with CET1 capital of CHF 5.8 billion.

Safra National Bank of New York (SNBNY), regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, delivered record net income of $115 million in 2024, against $11.3 billion in assets and $38 billion in total client assets. SNBNY’s CET1 ratio of 23.8% is more than double the level required to be considered well capitalised, underscoring the group’s system-wide preference for capital strength over leverage.

The Inheritance Dispute: A Family Fracture

No analysis of the Safra family can sidestep the inheritance battle that split the dynasty. The dispute, which eventually included international arbitrations and a New York State Supreme Court filing, exposed the governance risks inherent in dynastic family banking, and it was followed by a capital reduction at Banco Safra of about R$6 billion (about US$1.1 billion).

The Dilution Allegations

Alberto J. Safra, one of Joseph’s four children, left Banco Safra in 2019 following escalating tensions with his younger brother David, who had joined the bank’s management in 2008; According to Alberto’s legal filings, as Joseph’s Parkinson’s disease advanced in late 2019, a sequence of corporate actions was carried out that he says he did not know about: SNBNY Holdings’ reported income was inflated by approximately $872 million through a book-value write-up, which, he says, created artificial profits that justified issuing new shares to Joseph — which were then redistributed in a manner that cut Alberto’s SNBNY stake from 28% to 13.47%, after the new shares were issued to the three brothers in equal shares.

Alberto alleged he learned of the dilution only after Joseph’s death on December 10, 2020. Alberto’s filings say Joseph signed three wills in late 2019 that excluded him from the estate; the family’s position was that Joseph had intentionally disinherited Alberto after Alberto left the bank and allegedly recruited executives to found a competing firm.

Settlement and Capital Restructuring

On February 6, 2023, Alberto filed suit in the New York State Supreme Court, the state’s main trial court, against his mother Vicky, brothers Jacob and David, and related entities. The wider dispute involved the law firms WilmerHale and Quinn Emanuel; in March 2026 a London costs judge ordered a full assessment of WilmerHale’s fees for the arbitrations, which totalled about US$35 million (nine fee earners billed US$162,312 on one day in June 2023).

A global settlement was announced in July 2024. Alberto divested all his interests in the J. Safra Group, with financial terms undisclosed. Alberto said in the settlement release: “I am happy to put that matter behind. After clarifications, I understood that there were no wrongdoings, and that Mr. Safra’s estate was properly disposed in accordance to his wishes.”

The financial aftermath was structural: Brazil’s Central Bank approved a capital reduction at Banco Safra from R$19.196 billion to R$13.012 billion — a R$6.184 billion (about US$1.1 billion) reduction — as Alberto’s formal exit was processed. In January 2025, Esther Safra Dayan, Joseph’s daughter, announced the sale of her entire stake to her brothers Jacob and David. Brazil’s Central Bank approved the change in control in 2025.

The Saxo Bank Deal: Buying Technology at Scale

On March 10, 2025, J. Safra Sarasin Group announced the acquisition of approximately 70% of Saxo Bank, the Danish online trading and investment platform founded in 1992. Founder Kim Fournais retained approximately 28%, and in July 2026 the group agreed to buy that remaining stake, subject to regulatory approval.

The deal closed in March 2026 following approvals from FINMA, the Swiss financial regulator, and the Danish FSA, its Danish counterpart. Fournais stepped down as CEO to become Chairman of Saxo’s board, replaced by Daniel Belfer — a 26-year J. Safra Sarasin veteran.

Strategic Rationale

The acquisition had three strategic dimensions. First, technology: Saxo’s digital trading infrastructure and Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform — powering 150+ institutional partners — gives Safra Sarasin capabilities that traditional private banking heritage cannot easily replicate.

Second, client diversification: J. Safra Sarasin’s core high-net-worth clientele is complemented by Saxo’s more than 1.7 million clients and more than 150 financial institutional partners. Third, geographic reach: Saxo’s more than 2,400 professionals operating from London, Singapore, Amsterdam, Zurich, Dubai, and Tokyo expand the group’s footprint into markets where Safra’s presence was limited.

After the deal, J. Safra Sarasin Group, now including Saxo, reported client assets above $460 billion, and the J. Safra Group reports more than US$590 billion in assets under management and custody (31 December 2025).

Alberto’s Rival: ASA and the Independent Path

Rather than simply walking away from finance, Alberto Safra built ASA Investments, an independent asset manager. In August 2026 the firm said it plans to hire 50 people in the United States this year to serve wealthy American and Latin American clients.

Regulatory Record and Governance Scrutiny

A dynasty of this scale accumulates regulatory attention. One case is particularly significant for analysts assessing the group’s governance quality.

Operation Car Wash: J. Safra Sarasin Fined (2025)

In August 2025 the Swiss Office of the Attorney General, the federal prosecutor, convicted Banque J. Safra Sarasin SA by summary penalty order. The case arose from Brazil’s Operação Lava Jato (Operation Car Wash) investigation: between November 2011 and May 2014, accounts at the Swiss bank were used to channel payments totalling approximately US$71 million from roughly ten companies and intended for senior executives of Petrobras, Brazil’s state-controlled oil company.

The bank was found guilty under Swiss corporate criminal liability rules for failing to take all reasonable and necessary organisational measures against money laundering. The fine was CHF 3.5 million (about US$4.2 million at US$1.21 per Swiss franc), with an additional CHF 16 million (about US$19 million) settlement paid to Petrobras.

The case shows why investors weigh each Safra entity on its own: the group says its banks operate independently of one another.

Post-Settlement Control: Who Runs What

As of 2026, following Alberto’s divestment and Esther’s share sale, the J. Safra Group’s leadership is effectively a two-brother operation anchored by their mother Vicky:

• Vicky Safra (widow): One of three controlling shareholders of Banco Safra; lives in Switzerland. Active; family net worth US$24B (Forbes, 10 November 2026).
• Jacob J. Safra (son): Chairman, J. Safra Sarasin Group. Oversees the group’s business outside Brazil, including Saxo (majority stake closed March 2026).
• David J. Safra (son): Controlling shareholder of Banco Safra.
• Esther Safra Dayan (daughter): Former stakeholder. Announced sale of her stake to Jacob and David (Jan. 2025).
• Alberto J. Safra (son): Founder, ASA (independent). Fully divested from J. Safra Group (Jul. 2024); ASA plans about 50 US hires in 2026.

The two-brother division — Jacob overseeing international business, David a controlling shareholder of the Brazilian bank — mirrors a split that has precedent in the family’s history. Joseph himself shared the business with Moise until the 2006 buyout. Whether the current architecture proves durable, or whether succession pressures eventually replay historical tensions, will be among the defining questions for Safra watchers over the next decade.

Beyond Banking: The Gherkin

The J. Safra Group also holds property, and its best-known building is London’s Gherkin skyscraper at 30 St Mary Axe, bought in 2014 for more than £700 million (about US$940 million at the 10 November 2026 rate of US$1.34 per pound). Readers weighing their own exposure to Brazil can find step-by-step frameworks in our investing guides section.

What the Safra Family Means for US Readers

The group’s American arm is Safra National Bank of New York, a Manhattan bank regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the US national-bank regulator. It reported record net income of US$115 million in 2024 on US$11.3 billion in assets.

ASA Investments, the asset manager founded by Alberto Safra, said in August 2026 that it plans about 50 US hires. No current official statistic or market price bears directly on the family’s holdings, so this guide shows none; for the wider market picture, see our Brazil news coverage.

What Is Not Known

The financial terms of Alberto Safra’s July 2024 settlement were not disclosed, and the Forbes number is an outside estimate. The Forbes figure is a real-time estimate that moves with markets, so US$24 billion is a snapshot of 10 November.

This article is part of The Rio Times’ guide series, offering in-depth analysis for investors, expats, and analysts tracking Latin America. This article does not constitute investment advice.