Nine short years later, Mr. Batista has bounced back smartly. The Brazilian executive ranked No. 8 when Forbes' magazine published its annual list of the world's richest people this week. Stakes in oil, mining and infrastructure added up to a $27-billion (U.S.) fortune for the playboy entrepreneur. And Mr. Batista took the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan along for the ride.

Mr. Batista, 53, is the latest example of the developing world's ability to create massive wealth for those who control the resources consumed by the global economy. He has publicly said he plans to become the world's richest man, and is one of several billionaires from outside North America and Europe who now rank among the world's corporate elite: Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim Helu tops the Forbes charts with $53.5-billion, and two families from India are also in the top 10.

What's striking about Mr. Batista is the speed of his ascent. Forbes calculates the executive's fortune grew by $19.5-billion last year, the largest jump recorded by any individual. That bulk of this gain came courtesy of the oil and gas company that Mr. Batista controls, OGX, which found huge reserves last year off the Brazilian coast. The energy company now sports a $33-billion market capitalization.

Mr. Batista, the self-made son of a former Brazilian cabinet minister and corporate executive at Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, is sharing the wealth with Teachers, Ontario's largest pension fund.

As part of a shift into emerging markets in 2006, current Teachers CEO Jim Leech and his team met with Mr. Batista during a trip to South America and ended up backing a number of his projects. Filings show that Teachers owns a 12 per cent stake in OGX, and that the Canadian fund is the single largest shareholder after the founder.

Teachers also put $185-million into an infrastructure play that Mr. Batista controls, called LLX Logistica SA. The company runs three ports in southeastern Brazil and handles much of the iron ore that comes from Mr. Batista's mines. LLX Logistica went public in July, 2008, and the stock is up five-fold since its debut.

The coming year is expected to see Mr. Batista cash in more of his chips, as a shipbuilding company he controls plans an initial public offering that is expected to raise $5.6-billion.

"Eike is one of the most confident and talented promoters you'll ever meet, and in Brazil, he's supremely connected," said one investment banker who has worked with the executive since his stint at TVX in the 1990s. (The banker's employer does not allow him to be quoted by name.)

Mr. Batista, a university dropout, left the TVX board in 2001 after facing a barrage of lawsuits and the rudderless company was rolled into Kinross Gold Corp. in 2002.

Since leaving TVX, Mr. Batista has won international speedboat racing titles, divorced his former Playboy model wife Luma de Oliveria, with whom he has two children, and backed Rio de Janeiro's winning bid for the 2016 Olympic Games. And he is no longer thought of as a failed gold mining promoter.

Source: The Globe and Mail