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Luciano Guidolin

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Luciano Guidolin
BornLuciano Nitrini Guidolin
October 1972
São Paulo, Brazil
NationalityBrazilian
EducationPolytechnic School of the University of São Paulo (BSc, production engineering)
Harvard Business School (MBA)
OccupationBusiness executive, management consultant
CompanyBoston Consulting Group
TitleManaging Director and Partner, Boston Consulting Group

Luciano Nitrini Guidolin (born October 1972) is a Brazilian business executive who was chief executive officer of Odebrecht S.A., the holding company of the Odebrecht group, from May 2017 to December 2019. He took charge of the group two years after the arrest of Marcelo Odebrecht in Brazil's Operation Car Wash (Lava Jato) investigation, and led it through asset sales, leniency agreements with prosecutors and, in June 2019, a petition for judicial recovery that the press described as the largest in Brazil's history.[1][2]

Guidolin joined the Odebrecht group in 1994 and spent most of his career at its petrochemical business, the companies that became Braskem, where he rose from planning and commercial roles to vice president executive officer in charge of polyolefins, the COMPERJ project, vinyls, renewable chemicals and corporate technology. Between his two spells at Braskem he was finance and planning director of the group's sugar and ethanol company, ETH Bioenergia (later Odebrecht Agroindustrial), and chief financial officer of Odebrecht S.A.[3][4]

As chief executive, Guidolin argued publicly that the group had broken with the corrupt practices exposed by Lava Jato, and set out a plan under which each business would have its own board with independent directors and the holding company would eventually share control of its businesses with partners and outside shareholders. His tenure ended on December 16, 2019, when the controlling Odebrecht family's holding company announced that the board chairman, Ruy Sampaio, would replace him days before a creditors' meeting on the group's restructuring plan.[5][6]

Guidolin joined the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in January 2023 and, as of its April 2026 biography, is a managing director and partner in the firm's São Paulo office, working in its industrial goods practice.[7]

Early life and education

Guidolin was born in October 1972.[8] He is a native of São Paulo and of Italian descent; the EFE news agency described him at the time of his 2017 appointment as a descendant of Italian immigrants.[1][9]

He studied production engineering at the Escola Politécnica (Polytechnic School) of the University of São Paulo, where he earned a bachelor's degree.[10] He later took a Master of Business Administration at Harvard Business School.[10] BCG's biography of him records that he received the MBA with high distinction and lists the George F. Baker Scholar honour from Harvard Business School in 2001.[7]

Career

Petrochemicals and Braskem, 1994 to 2007

Guidolin joined the group in 1994.[3] According to the announcement of his appointment as chief executive in 2017, he began as an intern at the petrochemical companies that would later form Braskem, and worked for 12 years in sales, planning, marketing, technology and exports before rising to executive rank.[1] Braskem's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission list the posts he held at OPP, the group's polymer company, and then at Braskem: corporate planning director, vinyl marketing and development director, polyolefin export director and vinyl commercial director.[3] A 2011 filing dates two of these: he was director of the international markets office of Braskem's polyolefins unit from 2004 to 2006, and commercial director of its vinyls unit from 2006 to 2007.[10]

ETH Bioenergia, 2007 to 2010

In 2007 Guidolin moved to ETH Bioenergia, the group's sugar, ethanol and bioenergy company, which was later renamed Odebrecht Agroindustrial. He was appointed executive director with responsibility for finance, information technology and planning, and Braskem's filings describe him as ETH's chief financial officer from 2007 to 2010.[3][10] The 2017 announcement of his appointment at the holding company said he had worked for three years to help build and expand ETH before becoming its chief financial and planning officer.[1] BCG's biography summarises the period as more than four years in agribusiness as chief financial officer of Atvos, the name the business later carried.[7]

Group chief financial officer, 2011 to 2012

Guidolin became chief financial officer of the holding company, Odebrecht S.A., and held the post from 2011 to 2012.[3] In that role he represented the controlling shareholder on the boards of several group companies.[3] He was elected to Braskem's board of directors on January 31, 2011, as a nominee of the controlling shareholder.[10] British company records show him as a director of two group-linked engineering companies registered in England, Tenenge Limited and Tenenge UK Limited, from April 7, 2011 to May 1, 2012, with Brazil given as his country of residence.[8]

Braskem executive officer, 2012 to 2016

In 2012 Guidolin returned to Braskem as vice president executive officer of polyolefins, the COMPERJ project and renewable chemicals.[3] By 2016 his portfolio had widened; Braskem's annual report for 2015 described him as vice president executive officer of polyolefins, COMPERJ, vinyls, renewable chemicals and corporate technology.[4] Guidolin's appointment announcement of 2017 summarised the period as five years as executive vice president of the polymers unit in Brazil and Europe and of technology and innovation.[1] Minutes of Braskem board meetings in May 2014 and April 2016 record him among the executive officers present, alongside the chief executive, Carlos Fadigas.[11][12]

Guidolin resigned as an officer of Braskem on December 31, 2016. At its next meeting the board recorded his resignation with a vote of thanks for his work, and elected Edison Terra Filho as an officer.[13] In early 2017 Guidolin became chief investment officer of the holding company, a post that gave him responsibility across all of the group's businesses.[1]

Group chief executive, 2017 to 2019

Appointment

On May 12, 2017, Odebrecht announced that Guidolin, then 44, would succeed Newton de Souza as chief executive of the holding company.[9] De Souza had run the holding company since 2015, when Marcelo Odebrecht was arrested; he moved to the post of vice chairman of the board.[9] The company said Guidolin was regarded within the group as "the leader of a new generation of entrepreneurs", and that his task was to continue the business restructuring and return the group to growth while operating with "ethics, integrity and transparency".[1] At the time the group had already agreed in December 2016 to pay fines of R$6.96 billion (about US$2.2 billion) to the authorities of the United States, Brazil and Switzerland, and was negotiating similar agreements with other Latin American countries.[9]

Governance changes and public statements

In his first interview as chief executive, given to O Estado de S. Paulo in July 2017, Guidolin said that "Odebrecht will not end" and that the group had moved away from corruption and was paying heavily for its mistakes.[5] He described the main change under way as stronger governance at each company: every business now had its own board of directors with independent members, and the group had 14 such technical directors with a target of 23. The holding company's role, he said, would be to provide strategy, advice and capital allocation, and the operating companies would take on partners and list their shares "if the market permits".[5]

Guidolin said the construction company would seek a partner and an initial public offering in the following years, citing a project backlog of more than US$16 billion, and that Odebrecht Agroindustrial would follow the same route. Asked whether the group would change its name, he said it would not: "A simple change of name could be understood as an attempt to avoid changing the process, a merely cosmetic change. We will not make cosmetic changes." He allowed that individual businesses could develop their own brands.[5] Guidolin also said that the group had opened itself to external monitors to bring its controls up to international standards, and that the company's conduct had changed and was "non-negotiable".[5]

In the same interview he said that the group, which had prepared for Brazilian growth with 15 businesses, had narrowed its focus to nine: engineering and construction, petrochemicals, sugar, ethanol and bioenergy, oil and gas services, real estate, infrastructure and concessions, and sanitation outside Brazil. It had left the energy area and sold its Brazilian sanitation business. Guidolin said Braskem remained "an important pillar" of the group's strategy and that the group intended to keep it, and he forecast a new cycle of growth from 2019.[5] He said agreements had already been reached with the Dominican Republic and Ecuador.[5]

Leniency agreement with the federal government

On July 9, 2018, Brazil's Attorney General's Office (AGU) announced that it had concluded a leniency agreement with the group, under which it would repay R$2.7 billion to the public purse in annual instalments over 22 years. The deal made it the first large company investigated in Lava Jato to have settled with all the authorities involved, and allowed it to bid again for public contracts. Braskem was negotiating separately. Guidolin said: "This agreement allows us to advance in a more sustainable way in the resumption of growth, mainly at Odebrecht Engenharia e Construção."[14]

Asset sales and debt

In a January 2019 interview with O Estado de S. Paulo, Guidolin, then 46, set out the group's position after Lava Jato. Its revenue had fallen from R$132 billion in 2015 to R$80 billion, and its debt stood at about R$70 billion. He attributed the crisis to accelerated investment before 2016, followed by the economic slowdown, the fall in oil prices and the "great reputational impact" and credit restrictions caused by Lava Jato.[15]

He said that of a R$12 billion programme of asset sales, R$7.5 billion had been completed and R$5 billion was under way. The sales included the Chaglla hydroelectric plant in Peru, an asset of US$1.4 billion sold to China Three Gorges, whose completion had depended on the leniency agreement in Peru concluded at the end of 2018; a stake in the Rutas de Lima concession; an energy holding; a diamond mine in Angola; and the Inova BH schools public-private partnership in Belo Horizonte.[15] The largest financial issue, he said, was the restructuring of international bonds guaranteed by the construction company, which had begun in November 2018, followed by the debt of Atvos, into which, Guidolin said, the holding company had put almost US$2 billion.[15][16]

Guidolin presented the proposed combination of Braskem's assets with those of LyondellBasell as the model for the future group: "a company with some businesses that it operates and controls and other investments in which it participates, contributes to governance and as a shareholder, without control." He said due diligence was almost complete and the parties were in bilateral negotiations. Guidolin did not rule out partners for the construction company or a future listing, adding that there was "no reason for the businesses to be closed companies, 100 percent controlled by Odebrecht".[15]

Judicial recovery

The position deteriorated in the first half of 2019. Atvos entered judicial recovery in May after a creditor obtained the seizure of part of its production; the state bank Caixa Econômica Federal began enforcing guarantees on group debt; and LyondellBasell abandoned its plan to buy control of Braskem.[17] On June 17, 2019, the holding company and other group companies filed for judicial recovery at the 1st Bankruptcy and Judicial Recovery Court in São Paulo, declaring debts of about R$83 billion.[2] The court accepted the petition the next day, gave the holding company and 19 other group companies 60 days to present a recovery plan, appointed Alvarez & Marsal as judicial administrator and suspended enforcement actions against the companies.[18]

In a statement issued with the filing, Guidolin linked the group's reduced workforce to the crisis: "Today there are 48,000 jobs, as a consequence of the economic crisis that frustrated many of the investment plans made by Odebrecht and of the reputational impact of the mistakes committed." The group had employed 193,000 people at its peak.[17]

The restructuring met resistance. In October 2019 the group's creditors, mainly banks, objected to the recovery plan as too vague; the national development bank BNDES challenged it in court, and Caixa filed for the group's bankruptcy. At the same time Marcelo Odebrecht, whose sentence had been changed to a semi-open regime, sought to return to the group and blamed his successors for its difficulties.[6]

Departure

On December 16, 2019, Emílio Odebrecht, acting for the family holding company Kieppe, announced after a meeting in Salvador that Ruy Sampaio, chairman of the board, would replace Guidolin as chief executive, and that José Mauro Carneiro da Cunha would become the board's first independent chairman.[6] The company said the change would be transitional, and it came three days before the creditors' meeting on the recovery plan scheduled for December 19.[19] Guidolin was expected to remain on the boards of the group's operating companies.[6]

The Rio Times reported that the change followed a dispute over the dismissal on December 12 of the company's press relations director, who had acted as Marcelo Odebrecht's press officer. According to that account, the dismissal was poorly received internally, Guidolin put his position at the disposal of the shareholders, and the human resources director, Daniel Villar, did the same, after which Sampaio took over.[20] Odebrecht S.A. was later renamed Novonor S.A.; BCG's biography describes Guidolin's chief executive role under that later name, crediting him with leading the group's transformation, its business and financial reorganisation and the implementation of new governance.[7][21]

Boston Consulting Group, 2023 to present

Guidolin joined the Boston Consulting Group in January 2023. As of April 2026 the firm listed him as a managing director and partner based in São Paulo and a core member of its industrial goods practice, with expertise in the chemical industry, agribusiness, infrastructure, corporate finance and strategy, and operations.[7] BCG credited him with more than 25 years of experience leading teams in chemicals, agribusiness and infrastructure and industrial conglomerates, including more than 17 years in senior executive positions in chemicals and innovation at Braskem.[7] He is listed as a contributor to BCG Brazil's June 2025 report The Pulse of Brazilian Farmers (O Pulso do Produtor Brasileiro), based on interviews with more than 1,350 Brazilian farmers about the challenges and innovations in the country's agriculture.[7]

Leadership and management style

Guidolin was a career employee of the group rather than a member of the founding family, and O Estado de S. Paulo described him in 2017 as "a career employee of the group" who had taken the place once held by Marcelo Odebrecht.[5] His public statements as chief executive emphasised governance and conduct over growth. He told O Estado de S. Paulo in 2017 that only by "continuing to tell the truth and doing what is right" could the company regain society's trust, and he rejected a change of corporate name as cosmetic.[5] His model for the group was a holding company that would allocate capital and advise, while operating companies had independent boards, outside partners and, where possible, listed shares.[5][15]

Major deals and strategic decisions

Major transactions and decisions during Guidolin's tenure as group chief executive included:

  • The leniency agreement with the AGU in July 2018, under which the group agreed to repay R$2.7 billion over 22 years.[14]
  • A programme of R$12 billion in asset sales, of which R$7.5 billion had been completed by January 2019, including the US$1.4 billion sale of the Chaglla hydroelectric plant in Peru.[15]
  • The restructuring of international bonds guaranteed by Odebrecht Engenharia e Construção, begun in November 2018.[15]
  • Negotiations for a combination of Braskem with LyondellBasell, which LyondellBasell abandoned in 2019.[15][17]
  • The judicial recovery filing of June 17, 2019, covering about R$83 billion of debt.[2]

Financial and market performance

Odebrecht S.A. was not listed during Guidolin's tenure. According to figures he gave in January 2019, the group's revenue had fallen from R$132 billion in 2015 to R$80 billion, with debt of about R$70 billion.[15] The judicial recovery petition of June 2019 declared debts of about R$83 billion, and Brazil Energy Insight reported the conglomerate's total debt at R$98.5 billion in December 2019.[2][6] The group's workforce stood at 48,000 in June 2019, against a peak of 193,000.[17]

Board memberships and outside roles

  • Braskem, member of the board of directors, elected January 31, 2011, as the controlling shareholder's nominee.[10]
  • Several other group companies, as a board member while Guidolin was group chief financial officer, 2011 to 2012.[3]
  • Tenenge Limited and Tenenge UK Limited, director, April 7, 2011 to May 1, 2012.[8]

Recognition

  • George F. Baker Scholar, Harvard Business School, 2001.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 <ref>"Odebrecht names new CEO".Offshore Engineer.May 15, 2017.Retrieved October 29, 2026.</ref>
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 <ref>"Odebrecht entra com pedido de recuperação judicial em SP".Migalhas.June 17, 2019.Retrieved October 29, 2026.</ref>
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 <ref>"Braskem S.A. Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012".U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.April 8, 2013.Retrieved October 29, 2026.</ref>
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 <ref>"Braskem S.A. Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015".U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.May 5, 2016.Retrieved October 29, 2026.</ref>
  5. ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 <ref>"Entrevista: "A Odebrecht não vai acabar", diz novo presidente da empresa".Money Times (Agência Estado).July 31, 2017.Retrieved October 29, 2026.</ref>
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 <ref>"Odebrecht changes president on the eve of the key assembly".Brazil Energy Insight.December 17, 2019.Retrieved October 29, 2026.</ref>
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 <ref>"Luciano Guidolin".Boston Consulting Group.April 12, 2026.Retrieved October 29, 2026.</ref>
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 <ref>"Luciano Nitrini GUIDOLIN personal appointments".Companies House.Retrieved October 29, 2026.</ref>
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 <ref>"Luciano Nitrini Guidolin es el nuevo presidente de la corporación Odebrecht".Acento (EFE).May 12, 2017.Retrieved October 29, 2026.</ref>
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 <ref>"Braskem S.A. Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010".U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.June 10, 2011.Retrieved October 29, 2026.</ref>
  11. ↑ <ref>"Braskem S.A. Form 6-K, minutes of the meeting of the board of directors".U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.May 9, 2014.Retrieved October 29, 2026.</ref>
  12. ↑ <ref>"Braskem S.A. Form 6-K, minutes of the meeting of the board of directors".U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.April 8, 2016.Retrieved October 29, 2026.</ref>
  13. ↑ <ref>"Braskem S.A. Form 6-K, minutes of the meeting of the board of directors".U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.January 12, 2017.Retrieved October 29, 2026.</ref>
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 <ref>"Odebrecht fecha leniência com AGU e vai devolver R$ 2,7 bilhões".Poder360.July 9, 2018.Retrieved October 29, 2026.</ref>
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7 15.8 <ref>"'Não controlaremos todos os negócios', diz presidente da Odebrecht".Seu Dinheiro (Estadão Conteúdo).January 19, 2019.Retrieved October 29, 2026.</ref>
  16. ↑ <ref>"Presidente da Odebrecht enumera prioridades na Atvos: dívidas, investimentos e novos sócios".NovaCana (O Estado de S. Paulo).January 23, 2019.Retrieved October 29, 2026.</ref>
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 <ref>"Pedido de proteção marca declínio de um império".June 18, 2019.Retrieved October 29, 2026.</ref>
  18. ↑ <ref>"Justiça aceita pedido de recuperação judicial da Odebrecht".Money Times (Agência Brasil).June 18, 2019.Retrieved October 29, 2026.</ref>
  19. ↑ <ref>"Odebrecht anuncia Ruy Sampaio como novo presidente".Suno Notícias.December 16, 2019.Retrieved October 29, 2026.</ref>
  20. ↑ <ref>"Marcelo Odebrecht Accuses Father of Driving the Company to Judicial Reorganization".December 20, 2019.Retrieved October 29, 2026.</ref>
  21. ↑ <ref>"Braskem S.A. Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020".U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.May 14, 2021.Retrieved October 29, 2026.</ref>
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