Brazil’s rich and privileged call Sao Paulo and Rio home

Global Business

Brazil's rich and privileged call Sao Paulo and Rio home

Sao Paulo and Rio are where Brazil’s most privileged and powerful residents reside. CCTV’s Elaine Reyes reports on how the rich live in Brazil’s biggest cities.

Sao Paulo is the nation’s business capital, and Rio is its playground. Both places are lined with luxury hotels, shops and restaurants, all ready to cater to your every whim. If money’s no object, you’ve come to the right place. Shopping itself is one of the top attractions in these towns.

Brazil’s billionaires are booming, and six of them call Sao Paulo home. According to Forbes, it’s more than any other city in the Southern Hemisphere, and ranked among the Top Ten in the World.

The wealthy spend their time and money in the Jardins neighborhood. Reminiscent of Los Angeles, it could be called the Beverly Hills of Sao Paulo, bursting with swanky shops, offering premium products.

Oscar Freire in Sao Paulo is one of the most luxurious shopping thoroughfare in Latin America.

Brazil’s best designers have showrooms in Jardins, where just window shopping alone is a thrill. Items Brazil is famous for, like it’s fancy footwear, are on display. There are also other brands recognized worldwide.

Alongside the shops, another Sao Paulo staple: luxury cars. They’re a pricey purchase too. “A car that costs $10,000 in the U.S. here is going to cost $25,000. So it’s two and a half times as much as you pay overseas,” says Ricardo Robertoni, owner of Private Collections.

There’s a lot of “new” money millionaires in Brazil, but it’s billionaires come from generations of “old” thanks to banking, construction and food.

It was coffee money that helped “build” Sao Paulo. Today, gourmet coffee houses abound. Charming cafes like Cristoff’s and Sante Grau attract well-polished Paulistas ready to indulge.

The country’s financial capital has more than 12,000 restaurants to satisfy any appetite, from fine dining to all you can eat meat.

If it’s a delectable desert on the upscale agenda, there are also organic and environmentally friendly champagne truffles, chocolate pearls or hot chocolate. Patricia Landmann is the manager of Chocolat du Jour which has been tickling tastebuds for 27 years.

The hip Unique Hotel is home to the Skye Bar. Brazilians love their “botecos” or bars. After midnight, the Skye Bar is one of the most happening hangouts in town.

There are also weekend jewelry buying trips to Rio. Sixty-five percent of the world’s colored gemstones are extracted from huge deposits in Brazil’s terra firma. Select clients can take a look at them in the private buying rooms of H. Stern at Ipanema Beach.

For football fans, there is a bauble designed especially for the 2014 World Cup, modeled after Rio’s Maracana stadium.