President of Angola
Born in 1942, José Eduardo dos Santos has served as the President of Angola since 1979. At the time the country was still split by a civil war between dos Santos’ MPLA and the opposition rebel group, UNITA. MPLA controlled Luanda and was widely regarded as the de facto Angolan government. Only Jonas Savimbi’s death in 2002, however, effectively ended the war.
During his time as President of Angola, dos Santos and his family have amassed a substantial personal fortune. His daughter, Isabel, used her father’s infl uence to jump-start her business career at age 24, according to Forbes magazine, which put her at the top of its list of “Africa’s Richest Women” in 2011 and in 2013 dubbed her “Africa’s First Woman Billionaire,” highlighting her substantial business interests in Portugal, including major holdings in two Portuguese banks, Banco Espírito Santo and Banco Português de Investimento.