Andre Esteves

When Pactual was sold to UBS in December 2006 for $2.6 billion, Esteves owned close to one third of it. And he collected a $500 ­million retention package. UBS, which clearly valued his services, put him in charge of its Latin American businesses and, in July 2007, lured him to London to run its huge global fixed-income, currencies and commodities operation.

Esteves quit in mid-2008 to co-found BTG, and this April his new bank bought Pactual from a beleaguered UBS. Having come full circle, Esteves is CEO of BTG Pactual, which has $33 billion in assets.