1. Juan Carlos Escotet
Net Worth: $3.7 Billion
Sector: Banking
Juan Carlos Escotet is the founder of Caracas-based banking group Banesco. Banesco is operational in Panama, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Colombia and the United States. In 2013, Banco Etcheverria, which Escotet bought for around $90 million in 2012, purchased Spanish bank Abanca for $1.3 billion. Escotet began working as a messenger for Banco Union when he was 17 while studying economics. In 1986, he founded a brokerage. He added banking services in 1991, and in 2001, he merged his bank with Banco Union.