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The decision was not made now: the businessman signed the commitment in 2015 and says he has been donating part of his earnings since he was 40, inspired by his father. Instead of giving everything at once, he created a committee that distributes resources to hundreds of social projects, showing that generosity can also be planned.
Owner of a fortune of about R$ 3 billion, the founder of Cyrela, Elie Horn, decided to give up more than half of everything he built. The businessman promised to donate 60% of his wealth during his lifetime and became the first Brazilian to join The Giving Pledge, the club of billionaire philanthropists created by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, which brings together great fortunes willing to allocate most of their assets to social causes.
It is important to note the date of this decision, which periodically resurfaces in the press. The formal commitment was made in 2015, during a philanthropists’ forum in São Paulo, and is not a recent announcement. In fact, according to Horn himself, now 81 years old, he has been allocating part of his earnings to social causes since he was 40, when he lost his mother and decided, along with his family, to commit the largest portion of his wealth to good causes.
Who is Elie Horn
The businessman’s journey is one of the most remarkable in Brazilian business history. Elie Horn is the founder of Cyrela, one of the largest construction and real estate companies in Brazil, and built his fortune starting practically from scratch, buying and selling properties until he established one of the largest real estate groups in the country.
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Diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2012, Horn decided to step away from the day-to-day management of Cyrela to focus on philanthropy and take care of his health. Even so, he remained connected to the company he created and began to dedicate much of his time and energy to a new purpose: using the fortune he accumulated to try to make the world a little better, something that became the central mission of his life.
What is The Giving Pledge
Joining this select group has a strong symbolic meaning. The Giving Pledge is a movement created in 2010 by Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates, and Warren Buffett, which encourages billionaires worldwide to commit to donating at least half of their fortunes to philanthropy, either during their lifetime or in their will. Elie Horn was the first Brazilian to sign this commitment.
Alongside his wife, Suzy, he joined the pact in 2015, promising to donate 60% of his wealth, a portion even larger than the minimum suggested by the movement. For a long time, Horn remained the only Brazilian on the list, which highlights how this type of public commitment to donation is still rare among the super-rich in the country, a point that the businessman himself is keen to try to change.
How the donation works
Contrary to what many people imagine, the donation does not happen all at once. Instead of handing over 60% of the fortune in a single gesture, Elie Horn created a structure where the resources are managed by a committee of about 20 people, responsible for deciding which social projects the money will be allocated to, ensuring that the donations are planned and have a real impact.
With this model, the businessman has already supported more than 200 initiatives in the areas of health, education, poverty alleviation, and protection of children and adolescents. For him, once the money is allocated to a donation, it ceases to be his and becomes the cause’s. It is a philosophy that turns generosity into something organized and continuous, rather than an isolated gesture of fleeting impact.
The example he wants to multiply
Horn’s ambition goes beyond his own fortune. He founded the Movimento Bem Maior, alongside other entrepreneurs, with the aim of expanding the culture of donation in Brazil, a country where donations represent only about 0.2% of the GDP, a rate he considers very low given the potential of the country’s great fortunes.
Horn is also the founder of the Instituto Liberta, focused on combating the exploitation of children and adolescents, and has become an active voice in public debate, even advocating for the taxation of large fortunes and inheritances. He often says that true wealth is not in possessions but in contributing to a better world, and he uses his own example to try to convince other Brazilian entrepreneurs to donate more.
A legacy that goes beyond money
At its core, Elie Horn’s story is about legacy. Inspired by his father, who he says donated all his fortune, the businessman sees generosity as something that is passed down from generation to generation, a “legacy of good” more valuable than money itself. It was through conversations with his family that he defined the 60% to be donated.
Recently, Horn compiled his reflections in a book titled “Tijolos do Bem,” in which he talks less about his biography and more about his thoughts on doing good in the present and future. The work reinforces the image of a businessman who, instead of simply accumulating, chose to transform part of what he achieved into social impact, leaving a mark that he intends to go far beyond the buildings he helped construct.
The story of Elie Horn and his fortune committed to philanthropy is a powerful reminder that wealth and generosity can go hand in hand. The first Brazilian to join the club of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, the founder of Cyrela chose to donate more than half of what he built and, more than that, tries to inspire others to do the same in a country where the culture of giving is still in its infancy. At a time when so much is said about inequality, examples like his reignite the debate about the social role of great fortunes.
And you, what do you think of Elie Horn’s decision to donate 60% of his fortune during his lifetime? Do you believe that more Brazilian billionaires should follow this path of philanthropy? Leave your comment, share your opinion on the role of the super-rich in society, and share the article with those interested in economics, business, and social responsibility.
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