[2] As a child he worked as a snail trader in his village, and at 15 years old he went to Lisbon where he obtained a job at Hotel Tivoli Lisboa as an elevator operator.
[2] After the Carnation Revolution of 1974 and the Processo Revolucionário em Curso of 1975, Cintra saw a number of his assets expropriated but eventually would later acquire Águas Vidago, a mineral water company.
[2] His beer business in Brazil reached the break even point and was ranked number four in a short span of time.
Due to the strong competition and the power of well-established beer brands in the Portuguese market (Super Bock and Sagres), Sousa Cintra sold his Portuguese beer business in 2006, retaining only the successful Brazilian activities until 2007, when they were sold to AmBev.
[7][8] Sousa Cintra served as acting president of Sporting Clube de Portugal - Futebol, SAD during the mandate of an emergency management committee established after the ousting of Sporting CP's president Bruno de Carvalho from his post on 24 June 2018.