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King of cork Americo Amorim dies at the age of 82

Published:  17 July, 2017

America Amorim, whose family founded the Amorim natural cork empire, died on Thursday from unknown causes.

An official statement on the company’s website said: “The Amorim Group’s Board of Directors and Employees pay homage to this Man of vision, hard work and causes, who dedicated more than six decades of his remarkable career to development of the Group and the Portuguese economy. Until forever!”

Amorim, believed to be Portugal's wealthiest man with business interests ranging from cork, energy and finance, was an heir to the cork business set up by his grandfather in 1870, expanded it and became a major diversified investor.

Amorim’s fortune was recently estimated by Forbes at 4.4 billion euros, with his company Corticeira Amorim the world leader in cork production. His biggest single asset is an indirect 18% stake in Portuguese oil company Galp Energia.

Last October, Amorim resigned from the post of chairman of the board of directors of Galp for personal reasons and was replaced by his daughter, Paula Amorim.

He remained chairman of the board of the Grupo Amorim holding company, which owns Corticeira Amorim, among other interests.

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