Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista was once listed by Forbes as the 7th wealthiest man, today his ranking has fallen to the 100 mark. Batista’s holdings in oil, gas, minerals and infrastructure were valued at $34,5 billion, now that figure stands at $5 billion. It seems though that his financial shortcomings are not the only thing that has seen Batista fall from grace.

In March 2012 Batista’s son Thor Batista was driving a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren that his father had given him through the slums of Rio de Jenario when Thor hit and killed Wanderson Pereira dos Santos. The impact threw Pereira dos Santos, a trucker’s assistant, from his bicycle and killed him instantly. In light of Batista’s financial decline, the news of his son’s accident captured headlines throughout Brazil. And due to the increased media storm, Thor’s trial was dealt with much quicker than usual. He was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and received a $450,000 fine.

The trial revealed allegations of the father-son pair having paid $50,000 to a civil defense rescue worker who was at the scene of the accident. This led to rumours of a payoff, but Batista was not sentenced to jail. Instead he received two years of community service. This sentencing has been appealed by Batista’s lawyers while Pereira dos Santos’s family are looking to file a legal case. This case was a blow for Batista who invested millions on social change programmes in the country.

The current day picture of Batista is a far cry from where the philanthropist was last year. Writer Mac Margolis reports:

He had invested hundreds of millions in extracting offshore oil and gas. He was digging for high-grade coal in Colombia. And he had broken ground on Porto Açu, a massive deepwater port meant to break the logjam of Brazilian shipping. With docking for up to 40 deep draft cargo ships, the Açu superport was projected to house Latin America’s biggest shipyard, steelworks, rail terminals, and oil storage tanks, plus a city of a 250,000 residents raised from scratch.

Batista said:

I see myself as a knight of efficiency. If there is something that isn’t efficient, I’m going to break it down. The Google guys do that. Steve Jobs was famous for that. They look for ways to make life more user-friendly, and that’s how I see myself.

The Brazilian billionaire seemed to have it all until his debt started racking up and production targets faulted. He has since been called the “master of road shows” and “an impressario of spreadsheets”. Batista himself claimed that he would pass Carlos Slim the Mexican telecom billionaire to become the world’s wealthiest man. But today that statement is false.

[Source: The Daily Beast]