Paulo Guilherme Aguiar Cunha is a Brazilian executive and businessman. He is the chairman of the board of directors of

Ultra adopted by British military intelligence in June 1941 for wartime signals intelligence obtained by breaking high-level encrypted enemy radio and teleprinter communications at the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park. '' ...

. He is known to have a strong nationalist profile, being a reference in the

debate Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, a ...

about the Brazilian industrial development and has often been asked to take over economy ministries.

is the fourth largest company in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, with net incomes of R$60.9 billion in 2013, according to the annual report Valor 1000. He was a member of the National Monetary Council, the board of directors of BNDESPar, the Advisory Council of the Brazilian

Chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wi ...

Industry Association (Abiquim), president of the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards (ABNT), and the Brazilian Petroleum Institute (IBP). He is also one of the founders of the Institute of Studies for Industrial Development (Iedi).

Early life and education

Cunha was born in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil, on March 1, 1940, the son of a military father and schoolteacher mother. He graduated with degrees in mechanical and industrial engineering from the

Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro The Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro ( pt, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, PUC-Rio) is a Jesuit, Catholic, pontifical university in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the joint responsibility of the Catholic Ar ...

(PUC-RJ). He began his professional life at

Petrobras Petróleo Brasileiro S.A., better known by the portmanteau Petrobras (), is a state owned enterprise, state-owned Brazilian multinational corporation in the petroleum industry headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The company's name transla ...

in the early 1960s.

Career

In 1967, Cunha began working at

, by invitation of

Pery Igel Pery Igel (November 27, 1921 – September 24, 1998) was a Brazilian businessman. Igel was Ultra's second president, succeeding his father and company's founder, Ernesto Igel. Biography Igel was the administrator and second president of Ultra. He ...

, who was the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of the company. He later worked with Ultrafértil, Ultra's fertilizer development division, and was one of the founders of Petroquímica União. He was also the head manager of

Oxiteno Oxiteno is a Brazilian multinational manufacturer of surfactants and chemicals. The company develops and supplies raw materials to industries in over 30 sectors including cosmetics, personal care, household cleaning and industrial, agrochemicals, ...

, the largest manufacturer of

ethanol Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl ...

oxide and derivatives in Latin America. In 1973, Cunha became vice president of

. In 1981, he was named

of the company. In 1998, Cunha was invited and declined the invitation to be the Minister of Development in

, during

Fernando Henrique Cardoso Fernando Henrique Cardoso (; born 18 June 1931), also known by his initials FHC (), is a Brazilian sociologist, professor and politician who served as the 34th president of Brazil from 1 January 1995 to 31 December 2002. He was the first Brazi ...

's government. Cunha led Ultra's

IPO An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

in 1999 and began a series of

acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

that consolidated

Ultragaz Ultragaz is a Brazilian liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) distribution company. It originated as part of the company Empresa Brasileira de Gás a Domicílio, created by Ernesto Igel, founder of Ultra Group. Ultragaz is the largest LPG distributor in ...

's leadership in the Brazilian LP gas market. He initiated

's international expansion, which led the company to the leading position in the Latin American market. In 2001, Cunha was nominated one of the Top 20 best executives of

, by the national newspaper Jornal Valor Econômico. In 2007, he stepped down as president and retained the position of chairman of the board of directors. The company is among the top 500 worldwide, according to a Fortune magazine ranking published in 2014. The company's shares are traded under the name Ultrapar on the stock exchange market of São Paulo (BM&F Bovespa) and New York (NYSE).

operates in five segments: Ipiranga distribution of liquid fuels,

LP gas distribution,

Extrafarma Extrafarma is the drugstore chain owned by Ultrapar. The company is among the top 10 largest pharmacy chains in Brazil, with stores located throughout the north, northeast and southern regions of the country. The company has more than 400 store ...

retail pharmacy chain, Ultracargo storage of liquid bulk, and

chemicals.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunha, Paulo 1940 births Brazilian business executives Businesspeople from Rio de Janeiro (city) Living people