Ricardo Ribeiro do Espírito Santo Silva ComC GCC (1900–1955) was a Portuguese banker, economist, patron of the arts, and international athlete.

A good friend of the Portuguese dictator, António de Oliveira Salazar, he turned the Banco Espírito Santo (BES) into one of the most important financial institutions in Portugal.

[1][2][3] After schooling in Edinburgh, Ricardo married Mary Pinto de Morais Sarmento Cohen (1903 – 1979), the 16-year-old daughter of a Gibraltarian financial acquaintance and half-niece of the 1st Baron of Sendal.

The purchase of the Comercial de Lisboa gave BES the capacity to exploit World War II financially through international transactions for products such as tungsten, which was much in demand by the Germans.

In addition to being a banker, Espírito Santo was also Chairman of the Executive Committee of SACOR, which later became Galp Energia, one of Portugal's largest companies.

[2][4] When Salazar decided to buy an official residence in Lisbon in April 1939, Espírito Santo, provided free pieces of his personal property to furnish it.

Because of the need for capital to be mobilised, Salazar accepted the rise of economic and financial groups such as BES, but he controlled closely any attempt at political intervention.

[4] With the German invasion of France, the British Duke of Windsor, the former King Edward VIII who, after his abdication, had been living in Paris with his wife Wallis Simpson, made his way to Madrid.

The couple were planning to move on to Lisbon as a means of reaching London by boat or plane, although it was unclear whether Britain wanted them back.

Pursuing Portugal's policy of neutrality, Salazar was concerned not to upset Adolf Hitler, but he also did not want to annoy Winston Churchill.

In collaboration with J. Lloyd Hyde, and with original illustrations by Eduardo Malta, he prepared the work Chinese Porcelain for the European Market, which was only published in 1956, the year following his death.

[8] Ricardo Espírito Santo died in Cascais on 2 November 1955 as a result of a heart attack he suffered in the post-operative period of an operation on his stomach.