Silvio Santos

Senor Abravanel (12 December 1930 – 17 August 2024), better known as Silvio Santos, built a career as a television host and a business tycoon in Brazil. He is remembered as the most influential figure in Brazilian TV, having created the SBT network and the Grupo Silvio Santos conglomerate, which owns assets in media, real estate, and other sectors. Over his life, he also ventured into music and politics. In 2013, Forbes estimated his wealth at $1.3 billion, making him the only Brazilian celebrity on its billionaires list.

Early life

Born in the Lapa district of Rio de Janeiro—then Brazil’s capital and federal district—Abravanel was the oldest child of Alberto Abravanel and Rebeca Caro, Sephardic Jews who moved to Brazil in 1924. He started out as a street vendor and salesman, also working in radio, before making his television debut in the early 1960s hosting Vamos Brincar de Forca on TV Paulista (now part of TV Globo). He adopted the stage name Silvio Santos. In 1963, he began hosting Programa Silvio Santos, which became one of Brazil’s longest-running TV shows.

TVS and SBT

In 1976, after creative clashes with Globo executives, Santos launched his own TV station in Rio, called TVS, and bought a 50% stake in Rede Record, moving his show to those outlets and Rede Tupi. When the military dictatorship shut down Tupi, Santos’s company acquired several of its licenses and combined them with TVS to create SBT, a national network aimed at lower-middle-class and working-class viewers. Santos had six daughters, fourteen grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. With his first wife, Maria Aparecida Vieira (known as Cidinha), he had two daughters: Cintia (mother of actor Tiago Abravanel) and Silvia.

They were together until Cidinha died of cancer in 1977. In 1981, he married Íris Abravanel, staying with her for the rest of his life; they had four daughters: Daniela, Patricia, Rebeca, and Renata. Santos received numerous awards, including nearly thirty Imprensa trophies, sixteen Internet trophies, and ten Roquette Pinto trophies. He was also awarded the Order of Merit for Communication by former president Dilma Rousseff and honored by carnival blocks.

Abravanel was the son of Sephardic Jewish immigrants from the Ottoman Empire. His father, Alberto Abravanel, was born in Thessaloniki, Greece, in 1897; his mother, Rebecca Caro, was born in Smyrna, Turkey, in 1905. Both died in Rio de Janeiro (in 1975 and 1988, respectively) and are buried together in the Caju Jewish Cemetery there. He was a descendant of Isaac Abrabanel, a 15th-century Portuguese Jewish statesman.

He attended primary school at Escola Municipal Celestino da Silva and graduated from Colégio Estadual Amaro Cavalcanti. At age 14, Abravanel worked as a street vendor in Rio, selling plastic cases for voter registration cards. His voice impressed someone, leading to an invitation to try out at Radio Guanabara, but he quit after a month because street vending paid better. At 18, he served in the Brazilian Army, training with the Paratroopers Brigade.

Broadcasting career

With Sundays off, Abravanel returned to broadcasting, joining Rádio Mauá. He later moved to Rádio Tupi and also worked at Rádio Continental in Niterói, commuting by ferry from Rio. Seeing an opportunity, he started a business: bringing a PA system onto the ferry to play music and commercials. He quit Rádio Continental to focus on this venture, which succeeded.

When the ferry company added bars to the ships, Santos ran raffle promotions where passengers could get a ticket by buying a drink. He adopted the name Silvio Santos because his mother found “Silvio” easier to pronounce than “Senor,” and his surname came from once saying “que todos os Santos me ajudem” (“may all the Saints help me”) before going on air. Santos moved to São Paulo, taking a job at Rádio Nacional de São Paulo and starting other ventures, including a magazine and a circus caravan, where he continued using raffles. One of his advertisers was Manuel de Nóbrega, an entertainer and co-owner of Baú da Felicidade, a company selling Christmas toy chests paid for in installments.

Baú da Felicidade, television work

After the company ran into trouble—Manuel’s German partner stole money, orders went unfilled, and its “headquarters” was an empty basement—Manuel transferred the business to Santos. Santos then partnered with the Estrela toy company and expanded the program to let customers redeem for other items besides toys. In 1960, TV Paulista hired Santos to host Vamos Brincar de Forca, a variety show with raffles that promoted Baú da Felicidade. He also hosted other programs on TV Tupi.

In 1963, he moved to a Sunday afternoon variety show on TV Paulista, Programa Silvio Santos. In 1966, TV Paulista became part of Rede Globo, which signed Santos to a five-year contract. In 1971, he began presenting the Troféu Imprensa, an awards show for Brazilian television. He opened a studio, Es...