How Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves Made His Millions
Lourenco Goncalves’ net worth is at least $91.7 million. He owns over 200,000 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. stock worth over $75,626,312.
June 9 2021, Published 2:21 p.m. ET
Subreddit group WallStreetBets is getting behind iron ore company Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) and the company’s CEO Lourenco Goncalves.
Goncalves has served as the company’s chairman, president, and CEO since 2014. He's credited with helping the company become a leading player in the U.S. steel industry.
Lourenco Goncalves’ net worth
Goncalves’ net worth has grown to at least $91.7 million, according to the website WallMine. He owns over 200,000 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. stock worth over $75,626,312. His salary alone is over $16 million.
One WallStreetBets member praised Goncalves for comments he made in 2019. Goncalves said that he was “boiling short-sellers like frogs.” His statements came after a Cleveland-Cliffs quarterly earnings report surpassed analyst expectations and stock in the company shot up.
“CEO LOURENCO GONCALVES is a f*** stud. HE knows the analysts are wrong, and he KNOWS that people are shorting his company,” Reddit user TrumXReddit wrote.
TrumXReddit encouraged others to invest in Cleveland-Cliffs, “Because Steel is in huge demand because now that covid is falling back, people want to buy stuff, build stuff and all needs steel. Steel prices went to the moon!”
Goncalves has a reputation for complaining about Wall Street analysts. In April, he went on the attack against the S&P Global Ratings, which viewed his company’s creditworthiness lower than the Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings, Bloomberg reported.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs and Well Fargo & Co. have also been targets of his rath over the years.
Who is Lourenco Goncalves?
Goncalves, 62, grew up in a poor neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. According to an article in the Mesabi Tribune, his mother was a teacher and his father was “an absent person” from the family.
Goncalves studied metallurgical engineering in college and received his masters degree from the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
After college, he worked for several steel and mining companies including Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) in Brazil, California Steel Industries, Inc., and Texas-based Metals USA. He also served on the board for the French steel manufacturer Ascometal SAS and the American Iron and Steel Institute board.
In May, Goncalves was named "Steelmaker of the Year" by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology. The association called him a “true champion for the American mine and steelworkers."
"Goncalves is awarded Steelmaker of the Year in recognition of his distinguished career, strong leadership and outstanding contributions to the global mining and steel industries for more than 30 years; for his strategic vision to transform and grow Cleveland-Cliffs as an exemplary company in the U.S. steel industry; and for his passionate advocacy for the success of the domestic iron and steel industry," AIST said in a news release.
Goncalves was named in a 2005 sexual harassment suit.
According to an April 2019 article on Cleveland.com, Goncalves was named in a 2005 sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former employee at Metals USA, where he was CEO at the time. The employee alleged that Goncalves pulled her on his lap, groped her, and sucked on her ear. Metals USA settled the lawsuit for more than $300,000.