Brazilian banker Roger Agnelli died on March 19 in a plane crash after his turboprop monoplane slammed into two homes minutes after taking off at an airport in northern Sao Paulo, according to Reuters. Fifty-six-year-old Agnelli, his wife and two children were among seven killed in the crash. Agnelli turned Vale SA into the world’s No. 1 iron-ore producer.
In a statement, Vale said, “During the 10 years that Roger presided over Vale, the company established itself as the largest global producer of iron ore and the second largest mining company in the world. It was during his tenure that Vale increased its global expansion strategy, which took Vale to new levels in the global mining market.”
Agnelli became the president and CEO of Vale in July 2001 after 19 years as a corporate and investment banker with Banco Bradesco SA, a major Vale shareholder. Following his departure from Vale in 2011, Agnelli founded AGN Participações Ltda and teamed up with Grupo BTG Pactual SA in a mining joint venture.
