Ricardo Salgado

[1] Ricardo Salgado joined the Banco Espírito Santo e Comercial de Lisboa where, in 1972, he headed up the Economic Studies Bureau and subsequently the Credit Board, where he remained until 1975, when the bank was nationalised.

[6] In January 2013 BES was the only Portuguese bank to manage the operation that marks the return of Portugal to the markets, since the country has been subject to the European troika's intervention.

[3] The Prosecutor stated to the media that, “after the court hearing the accused was subject to coercive measures to deposit the amount of €3 million, is not allowed to leave the national territory and is prohibited from contacting certain people.

[1] He was honored in the category Lifetime achievement in Financial Markets in Investor Relations and Governance Awards in 2012, an initiative of the consultant Deloitte that distinguishes best practices in the business sector.

[10] In July 2013, Ricardo Espírito Santo Silva Salgado was awarded a doctorate honoris causa by the Universidade Técnica de Lisboa for his services to the economy, culture, science and to the university.

The epitome of Portuguese banking’s fondness for sober suits and wood-panelled boardrooms, Salgado has maintained his traditional gravitas through months of intense crisis for the family group.

Salgado was born in 1944 into what was already a wealthy banking dynasty, one of a handful of powerful families that António de Oliveira Salazar, the rightwing dictator, allowed to dominate the Portuguese economy.

As a 30-year-old junior director, Salgado escaped being imprisoned with several senior family members, who were held for months after the 1974 coup that overthrew the dictatorship.

[12] He has made a number of high-profile business enemies during his 22 years at the helm of BES, particularly through feuding between the five strands of the Espírito Santo family over leadership successions.

According to annual rankings drawn up by the Jornal de Negócios newspaper, Salgado was the third most powerful person in the Portuguese economy in 2013;[13] in 2014 he was in the 48th position.