Founder Profile
João Moreira Salles
Last reviewed: October 2026 · By Swet Parvadiya
Who is João Moreira Salles?
João Moreira Salles is a founder of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A., which was founded in 2008 with Alfredo Egydio de Souza Aranha.
- Company founded
- Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A.
- Founded
- 2008
- Co-founders
- Alfredo Egydio de Souza Aranha
Background
A merchant in the inland coffee region of Minas Gerais, he moved from trade into banking by offering deposit and correspondent services to local businesses in the 1920s.
Founding Story
João Moreira Salles was a merchant in Poços de Caldas, Minas Gerais, who in 1924 opened a banking section inside his trading house, Casa Moreira Salles. That operation, initially a correspondent for larger banks, is the starting point of the lineage that later became União de Bancos Brasileiros (Unibanco). His son Walther Moreira Salles expanded it into a national bank, and the family's banking interests combined with Banco Itaú in 2008 to form Itaú Unibanco. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Sources
This profile does not yet cite a source specific to João Moreira Salles. The sources below document the company company rather than the person, so check them against the claims above.
- Itaú Unibanco FY2025 Form 20-F (Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A.)
- Itaú Unibanco Investor Relations (Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A.)