Nizan Guanaes

From working as a silverware shop assistant when he was 16 to founding his own advertising agency in 1989, Nizan Guanaes has enjoyed a diverse career in the business world.

He brings an extensive background in marketing and advertising to his current role as the president and CEO of iG, the first free internet portal, based out of São Paulo, Brazil.

The portal is operating in 89 Brazilian cities, including all Brazilian state capitals, with an average of 10,000 to 15,000 people registering for the online service each day and more than 12 million pages viewed daily.

Before delving into the world of the internet, Guanaes worked in the advertising industry for Artplan in Rio de Janeiro and DPZ and WGGK in São Paulo before founding his own agency, DM9.

In a 10-year period, Guanaes turned DM9 into one of the three largest agencies in the Brazilian marketplace. DM9 won the Agency of the Year prize in Cannes in 1999.