Silvio Santos

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Silvio Santos
Santos, c. 1970
Born	Senor Abravanel (1930-12-12)12 December 1930 Rio de Janeiro, Federal District, Brazil
Died	17 August 2024(2024-08-17) (aged 93) São Paulo, Brazil
Occupations	Television host media mogul
Years active	1965–2024
Title	Chairman and founder of Grupo Silvio Santos
Spouses	Maria Aparecida Vieira ​ ​ (m. 1962; died 1977)​ Íris Abravanel ​ (m. 1979)​
Children	6, including Patricia
Father	Alberto Abravanel
Relatives	Tiago Abravanel (grandson) Fábio Faria (son-in-law) Alexandre Pato (son-in-law)
Signature

Senor Abravanel (Hebrew: סניור אברבנאל;^[1] 12 December 1930 – 17 August 2024), known professionally as Silvio Santos, was a Brazilian television presenter and business magnate. Widely regarded as the greatest personality in Brazilian television,^[2][3][4] he was the founder of the television network Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão (SBT) and the conglomerate Grupo Silvio Santos, which holds interests in media and real estate among other assets. Throughout his life, he was also involved in other areas such as music and politics.^[5] His net worth was estimated at $1.3 billion in 2013, making him the only Brazilian celebrity on Forbes' billionaires list.^[6][7]

Born in Lapa, Rio de Janeiro,^[1][8] the former capital city of Brazil and former headquarters of the Federal District, Abravanel was the eldest son of a couple of Sephardic Jews who migrated to Brazil in 1924, Alberto Abravanel^[1] and Rebeca Caro. Working as a hawker, salesman, and also on the radio, Abravanel debuted on television in the early 1960s as the host of the variety show Vamos Brincar de Forca on TV Paulista (now part of TV Globo), adopting the stage name "Silvio Santos". In 1963, he began hosting Programa Silvio Santos, which would become one of the longest-running programs on Brazilian television.

In 1976, amid creative conflicts with Globo executives, Silvio entered the broadcasting industry himself by launching a new television station in Rio known as TVS, and purchasing a 50% stake in Rede Record, moving Programa Silvio Santos to the two outlets and Rede Tupi. When Tupi was closed by Brazil's military dictatorship, Silvio's company acquired several of the former network's licenses, and joined with TVS to form a new national network known as SBT; the network would target lower middle class and working class viewers.

In September 2022, Silvio began to gradually reduce his involvement in television by retiring as host of Programa Silvio Santos (being succeeded by his daughter Patricia Abravanel), and stepping down as vice president of SBT in 2023. In July 2024, he was hospitalized with H1N1 and was discharged two days later. After being hospitalized again with the same disease, he died of bronchopneumonia on 17 August 2024, at the age of 93, Silvio was buried on the morning of 18 August, at the Butantã Israelite Cemetery, in São Paulo.

Silvio had six daughters, fourteen grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. In his first marriage, to Maria Aparecida Vieira, most known as Cidinha, he had his first two daughters, Cintia (mother of actor Tiago Abravanel) and Silvia. The couple was together until 1977 when Cidinha died of cancer. Santos married for the second time to Íris Abravanel in 1981, with whom he remained until the end of his life and had four other daughters, Daniela, Patricia, Rebeca and Renata.^[9][10] Santos received several awards and honors, including almost thirty Imprensa trophies, sixteen Internet trophies and ten Roquette Pinto trophies,^[11] in addition to being honored with the Order of Merit for Communication by former president Dilma Rousseff^[12] and honored by carnival blocks.^[13][14]