Lily Watkins Wiki Biography
Lily Watkins was born on the 30th December 1934, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and is a socialite and a philanthropist who, as Lily Safra, is most famous for her four rather lucrative marriages to magnate, banker and millionaire businessmen, as well as for her abundant arts collection.
Have you ever wondered how much wealth one of the world’s “most intriguing socialites” has accumulated so far? How rich Lily Safra is? According to sources, it is estimated that the total of Lily Safra’s net worth, as of mid-2017, exceeds the sum of an impressive $1.2 billion. Yes, billion! It has been entirely acquired through her four marriages and it includes luxurious arts and jewelry collections and lavish assets such as Villa La Leopolda, the historic 18-acres property located on the French Riviera, as well as residences in Monaco, London, Geneva and New York City.
Lily Safra Net Worth $1.2 billion
Lily was born to Annita Noudelman de Castro and Wolf White Watkins, and besides Brazilian is also of Uruguayan, Russian, Czechoslovakian as well as Jewish ancestry. Although born in Brazil, she grew up in Uruguay.
Lily’s rise up the social ladder began when she was only a 17-year-old girl in 1951, when she met and soon after married Mario Cohen, an Argentinean investment magnate. Together they welcomed three children, but after nine years of marriage, they divorced in 1960. This marriage and its ending provided the basis for Lily Safra’s net worth.
In the course of the next few years, Lily met another millionaire businessman – Alfredo ‘Freddie’ Monteverde, a European Jewish immigrant who founded and established the Ponto Frio brand, a Brazilian retail chain specializing in electronics, furniture and household appliances. Lily and Freddie married in 1965, and subsequently adopted a child. After Monteverde’s unexplained suicide in 1969, Lily inherited all of her deceased husband’s assets which dramatically increased the total of her net worth. However, the details about Monteverde’s death are still not absolutely clear, as there are some controversial theories that he was murdered, as his body was found with two shots in his chest.
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One month after this unfortunate event, Lily transferred to London, England, where she, alongside Monteverde’s banker Edmond Safra, managed to gain total control of her late husband’s fortune. In addition to this, Edmond and Lily began something more intimate than just a purely professional relationship – they began dating. Nonetheless, in 1972 Lily married another wealthy businessman Samuel Bendahan, but after only two weeks of mutual life, they separated while a year later they divorced. This marriage enriched Lily Safra’s net worth by quite a large margin.
In 1976, Lily eventually married Edmond Safra, one of the world’s richest bankers at that moment, and the founder of Republic National Bank of New York. After dividing their time between their properties on the French Riviera, USA and Monaco for several years, in 1999 during their stay in Monaco, Edmond was killed in what later turned out to be an arson attack. His death stirred up the media across the globe, as his former-Green-Beret bodyguard was named guilty, but after 10 years spent behind bars still claimed his innocence. Either way, Edmond’s death resulted in an incredible increment to Lily Safra’s net worth, adding around $800 million to her wealth.
Apart from being the “world’s richest widow”, Lily Safra is also a genuine philanthropist – she supports, benefits and sponsors numerous charities and organizations, including the American Red Cross, Michael J. Fix Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, Elton John’s AIDS Foundation as well as the National Institute of Health in Washington D.C. and Hope and Homes for Children, among several others. She has also served as a member of the board for the Museum of Jewish Heritage, New York City’s Museum of Modern Art, as well as the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2012, after auctioning her unique 70-piece jewelry collection, Lily Safra raised the sum of $38 million and donated it to 32 various charities.
| Net Worth | $1.2 Billion |
| Date Of Birth | December 30, 1934 |
| Place Of Birth | Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil |
| Profession | Philanthropist |
| Nationality | Monacan |
| Spouse | Edmond Safra (m. 1976–1999) |
| Children | Eduardo, Claudio, Adriana, Carlos |
| IMDB | http://www.imdb.com/name/ |
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