[7][12] In 1984, with appointment by a BankBoston board member, Meirelles attended the six-week Advanced Management Program (AMP) at Harvard Business School.

[6][8] With a youth marked by public performances, when he was part of the student movement in Goiânia and led strikes against bus ticket and school supply prices, influenced by a political family – his grandfather was mayor of Anápolis three times, his father occupied roles in the State Secretariat of Goiás twice, and an uncle who was Governor – from then on Meirelles started his political career, to which he dedicated himself from 2002 to 2014.

[25] Considered one of the most respected figures in the Brazilian business environment, in early 2012, Meirelles received 12 job offers from the private sector, among them was the presidency of Barclays and Goldman Sachs banks in Brazil.

[16][27] Meirelles led Banco Central do Brazil during the eight years of President Lula's administration and, in November 2010, he announced his departure.

[30] In 2011, three months after the announcement of his departure from the leadership of BCB, and at the invitation of President Dilma Rousseff, Meirelles took office in the Public Olympic Council.

[2][31][32] In 2014, Meirelles was invited by the PMDB candidate to the government of SP, Paulo Skaff, to compete in the Senate in their political platform.

[1][36][37] When Michel Temer became the interim president, in May 2016, Henrique Meirelles was nominated Minister of Finance and Social Security.

[5] In the 2022 Brazilian general election, Meirelles has endorsed the candidacy of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

[citation needed] With operations during the eight years of Lula's government (2003–2010), Meirelles was the President of Brazil's Central Bank (BCB) who held the longest office.

[41] Meirelles presented inflation rates within the target set by the National Monetary Council in every year of his tenure, except in 2003, when there was a "deterioration of expectations."

[29] According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), – Henrique Meirelles' management period was the one with the longest growth cycle in the country's recent history, with a rate of 3% per year for more than 60 months.

[42] At the end of his two mandates in 2009, Henrique Meirelles was credited responsible for reducing inflation by half and interest rates to the lowest level in history.

[3] Meirelles was invited by Joesley Batista to chair the board of directors at J&F, the holding company that controls JBS, Original Bank, Vigor Alimentos, Brazil Eldorado (pulp and paper), Flora Higiene Pessoal, Floresta Agropecuária and Canal Rural.

Meirelles was also delegated the responsibility of expanding inside and outside the country, by demanding results from the executives and defining strategies aimed at opening the company's capital in the future.