TRAILBLAZER
The Brazilian Banker Billionaire
As the CEO and Co-founder of Nubank – South America ’ s largest and most successful challenger – David Vélez has a disruptive reputation
B orn in Medellin , Colombia in 1982 , David Vélez comes from a large , extended family of entrepreneurs . His father , who co-owned a button factory , had 11 siblings , all of whom ran their own businesses , providing the young Vélez with an environment that thrived on innovation and disruptive ideas .
But Medellín was also a crime capital where drug wars and the cartels reigned supreme . The family suffered greatly , and an early memory for Vélez was leaving a shopping centre with his family just moments before it was bombed . Later , one of his uncles was kidnapped . The two events resulted in Vélez ’ s parents uprooting the family to find a safer place to live .
A passion for finance and innovation At the age of nine , the family moved to Costa Rica , where he flourished , proving to be a fine student – and discovered a passion for the financial markets . Vélez attended a local German-language prep school , graduating as valedictorian and winning admission to Stanford University . By 18 , Vélez had moved to the US and started his degree at Stanford , studying Finance . Upon graduation , with a newlyminted MBA , he qualified as a financial engineer .
The time he spent in California saw him explore a range of potential careers in the technology industry – and he considered various startup ideas , as well as positions in Google and Amazon .
16 October 2022