Roberto Setubal
Brazil
Roberto Setubal
  • President and CEO, Itaú Unibanco (Financial Services)
Born São Paulo, Brazil, 1954. BSc. Engineering, Universidade de São Paulo (1977); MSc. Engineering, Stanford University (1979).
“[I]n real life, leadership does not come from the person who stands on the stage.... It has more to do with ... the way you interact with people, with the way you motivate people to bring them closer to you.”

Summary

Roberto Setubal discusses his history at Banco Itaú, and his father's roles in the expansion and internationalization of the bank. He focuses on the merger of Itaú with Unibanco in 2008, leading to Itaú's positioning as the largest bank in Brazil, and subsequently in Latin America. He discusses how he improved efficiency at the merged bank, invested in technology, downsized the workforce, and eventually drove the globalization of the bank. Setubal reveals his strategies for dealing with challenging issues, including privatization and currency stabilization.

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Roberto Setubal discusses his history at Banco Itaú, and his father's roles in the expansion and internationalization of the bank. He focuses on the merger of Itaú with Unibanco in 2008, leading to Itaú's positioning as the largest bank in Brazil, and subsequently in Latin America. He discusses how he improved efficiency at the merged bank, invested in technology, downsized the workforce, and eventually drove the globalization of the bank. Setubal reveals his strategies for dealing with challenging issues, including privatization and currency stabilization.

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Interview Citation Format

"Interview with Roberto Setubal, interviewed by Ricardo Reisen de Pinho, June 6, 2013, Creating Emerging Markets Project, Baker Library Historical Collections, Harvard Business School, http://www.hbs.edu/creating-emerging-markets/."