Lily Safra
Finance

Lily Safra Net Worth

Lily Safra is a billionaire who inherited most of her fortune from her fourth husband, Edmond J. Safra, a multibillionaire banker who died in a fire at his Monaco penthouse in 1999. She chairs the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation, which has donated more than $250 million since its creation in 1977. Her second marriage to Alfredo Monteverde, founder of Brazilian appliance giant Ponto Frio, ended with his suicide in 1969 and left her with a stake in Ponto Frio, which she sold in 2009 for about $340 million. In 2012 she launched a lawsuit seeking additional payment from Ponto Frio, and in August 2015 a Brazilian court ruled in her favor.
Lily Safra is a member of Finance

Age, Biography and Wiki

Birth Day December 30, 1934
Birth Place London, United Kingdom, Monaco
Age 89 YEARS OLD
Residence London, England
Citizenship Monaco
Occupation Socialite, philanthropist
Spouse(s) Mario Cohen (m. 1951; div. 1960) Alfredo Monteverde (m. 1964; suicide 1969) Samuel Bendahan (m. 1972; div. 1973) Edmond Safra (m. 1976; death 1999)
Children 4

💰 Net worth: $1.3 Billion (2024)

Lily Safra, who is renowned for her expertise in finance, is estimated to have a net worth of $1.3 billion in 2024. Safra's financial acumen has earned her a prominent position in the financial realm, particularly in Monaco. Known for her vast wealth and astute investment strategies, Safra has demonstrated her prowess in managing and growing her financial portfolio. With a net worth of such magnitude, Safra's success underscores her profound understanding of the financial landscape and her ability to navigate it adeptly.

2009 $1 Billion
2010 $1.2 Billion
2011 $1.2 Billion
2012 $1.2 Billion
2013 $1.2 Billion
2014 $1.3 Billion
2015 $1.3 Billion
2016 $1.3 Billion
2017 $1.3 Billion
2018 $1.3 Billion

Biography/Timeline

1934

Safra was born Lily Watkins on December 30, 1934, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, daughter of Wolf White Watkins, a Czechoslovak railway Engineer who moved to South America, and Annita Noudelman de Castro, a Uruguayan of Russian-Jewish ancestry. She grew up in Rio de Janeiro but moved with her family to Uruguay.

1960

At the age of 17, she met and married Mario Cohen, an Argentine hosiery magnate of Italian-Jewish descent. They had three children. Lily and Cohen divorced in the early 1960s.

1965

In 1965, she married Alfredo "Freddy" Monteverde, formerly Greenberg. He was a Romanian Jewish immigrant who was forced to flee Europe in 1939. He was a leader in the Brazilian household appliance distribution Business, where he established the Ponto Frio brand. He and Lily adopted a child. In 1969, Monteverde committed suicide. According to biographer Isabel Vincent, Monteverde left all his assets to his wife.

1972

In 1972, Monteverde married businessman Samuel Bendahan, also a Sephardic Jew but from much more modest means. They separated after two weeks, and she divorced him after one year of marriage.

1976

In 1976, Monteverde married Edmond Safra after all. The prominent banker was of Syrian Jewish (Mizrahi) origin and a naturalized Brazilian citizen. He founded Republic National Bank of New York. The couple divided their time among homes in New York City, Monaco, Geneva, and the Villa Leopolda on the French Riviera.

1977

Lily Safra supports numerous foundations, organizations, and charities. In 1977 she, her husband Edmond Safra, and Nina Weiner founded the International Sephardic Education Foundation. She chairs The Edmond J. Safra Foundation which supports medical research and humanitarian relief. The Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics has been established at Harvard; most recently she donated over $12 million to create a cross-disciplinary research laboratory on institutional corruption.

2005

Lady Colin Campbell's novel Empress Bianca (2005) was considered to be defamatory by Safra's solicitor Anthony Julius. Reacting to the legal threat in the United Kingdom, its publishers Arcadia withdrew the book and destroyed unsold copies. A revised edition of the book was later published in the United States.

2009

In 2009, Safra was honored by the Elton John AIDS Foundation with its “An Enduring Vision” award for her long-time support. In October 2013, Safra donated $1 million in support of the foundation's grant-making programs. That same year, Safra contributed $16 million toward Edmond and Lily Safra Children's Hospital in Tel Hashomer. She also donated $5 million toward the One Laptop Per Child project.

2010

L'Homme qui marche I, a life-sized bronze sculpture of a man by Alberto Giacometti was acquired by Safra on 3 February 2010 at an auction in London for £65 million (US$104.3 million), resulting in becoming one of the most expensive works of art and the most expensive sculpture ever purchased.

2012

In May 2012, Christie's Geneva hosted an auction of 70 pieces of Safra’s personal jewelry collection. The 'Jewels for Hope' sale included 18 pieces by JAR, the largest personal collection designed by the jeweler ever to be sold. The entire profits from the sale were donated to 32 charitable institutions around the world in the fields of Health care, education, religion and culture, including the Elton John AIDS Foundation and Hope and Homes for Children in Romania.

2019

In the same year, she promised the Claude Pompidou Foundation a donation of 7 million euros for the construction and completion of the Claude Pompidou Institute for Alzheimer’s research and treatment in the city of Nice, France. The Institute was inaugurated and welcomed its first patients in 2014.

Some Lily Safra images

About the author

Lisa Scholfield

As a Senior Writer at Famous Net Worth, I spearhead an exceptional team dedicated to uncovering and sharing the stories of pioneering individuals. My passion for unearthing untold narratives drives me to delve deep into the essence of each subject, bringing forth a unique blend of factual accuracy and narrative allure. In orchestrating the editorial workflow, I am deeply involved in every step—from initial research to the final touches of publishing, ensuring each biography not only informs but also engages and inspires our readership.