Senor Abravanel (December 12, 1930 - August 17, 2024), populary known by his stage name Silvio Santos, was a TV show host in Brazil and owner of SBT (Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão), the second biggest Brazillian television network.

Santos was born in Rio de Janeiro and had a knack for business from a young age. He began working as a street vendor. He was Jewish and of Turkish and Greek background. Despite his initial job as a street vendor, he had a strong affinity for artistic endeavors and began working on radio, the circus and television, but without abandoning entrepreneurial activities.

He became one of the major TV show hosts on Brazilian TV. His major achievement was to found SBT in 1981. He was one of the richest men in Brazil and worked as a TV show host through the better part of 6 decades. His characteristic laughter and special "tie" microphone became trademarks of Brazilian television.

He has innovated Brazilian television in many ways, producing Brazilian versions of popular foreign shows such as Candid Camera, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, The Biggest Loser, Wheel of Fortune, Family Feud and American Idol.

He was a candidate in the Brazilian presidential elections of 1989, but was disqualified during the campaign, on a technicality.

Silvio Santos' fortune amounts close to 1 billion reais (nearly 590 million dollars). Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.