Eike Fuhrken Batista da Silva (Brazilian Portuguese: ; born 3 November 1956) is a Brazilian-German serial entrepreneur who made and lost a fortune in mining and oil and gas industries. He engaged in a quest to promote Brazil's infrastructure with large-scale projects, such as the Porto do Açu, which eventually bankrupted his companies.
He was chairman of Brazilian conglomerate EBX Group, which was formerly the parent company of five companies traded on the BOVESPA's Novo Mercado, a special segment of the São Paulo stock market. These five companies were: OGX (oil and gas), MPX (energy), LLX (logistics), MMX (mining), and OSX (offshore services and equipment). Nowadays, EBX advises new startup companies and tries to rebuild itself again.
In early 2012, Batista had a net worth of US$35 billion, ranking him the seventh wealthiest person in the world, and the richest in Brazil. By July 2013, his wealth had plummeted to $200 million due to his debts and his company's falling stock prices. Bloomberg reported in January 2014 that Batista "has a negative net worth." Forbes and Folha de S.Paulo quoted Batista in September 2014, stating that his net worth was –$1 billion. Batista is currently under arrest and has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for bribing disgraced Rio de Janeiro governor Sérgio Cabral, in order to secure public contracts.