Luciano Hang has become one of Brazil’s best-known businessmen, as he is the owner of Havan, one of Brazil’s retail giants with more than three decades of history and thousands of employees.
As well as making a name for himself as a businessman and building his fortune, Luciano Hang has also become famous for his public appearances, giving positions on his political opinions.
Luciano Hang is one of the richest men in the world and is on the select list of Brazilian billionaires. He is currently married to Andrea Hang, with whom he has a son, Leonardo Hang.
Who is Luciano Hang?
Luciano Hang is one of the founders of Havan, a chain of department stores with an outstanding turnover and more than 15,000 employees.
As well as being an entrepreneur, Luciano Hang is also known for his popularity on social media. He gained great notoriety during Brazil’s 2018 presidential race.
The businessman is also on the list of the richest people in the world. According to the Forbes 2023 list, Luciano Hang has an estimated fortune of US$ 3.2 billion. This puts him in 12th place in the Brazilian ranking.
The “Veio da Havan”
With his great exposure on social media, Luciano Hang ended up being nicknamed “Veio da Havan”. He has become known as this by many people, especially when he is mentioned on the internet.
When asked about this nickname, Luciano Hang says that although the term “Veio da Havan” came about in an attempt to “diminish” him, i.e. that it was used in a pejorative way, he points out that the spread of this name on social media has turned out to be a very positive attribute for his company’s marketing.
Luciano Hang’s history
Luciano Hang was born on October 11, 1962, in the city of Brusque, considered the “City of Fabrics”, located in the state of Santa Catarina, where he lived for some years of his life. He was the son of workers Regina and Luís Hang.
Hang studied at João XXIII Elementary School and continued his studies at Colégio Consul Carlos Renaux.
Luciano Hang Childhood
Until he was 12 years old, Luciano Hang couldn’t read or write. He found out later that he had dyslexia, and this ended up getting in the way of learning to read and write during his youth.
Hang started working very early, but he was also a dedicated student. After compulsory education, the entrepreneur continued his studies at the Regional University of Blumenau, where he graduated as a technologist in Data Processing, even before becoming an entrepreneur.
Luciano Hang Business career
A curious fact is that Hang sold cookies at school during his childhood, showing that he had an aptitude for salesmanship from an early age. At the age of 17, he started working for the same company where his parents worked, Fábrica de Tecidos Carlos Renaux.
At the age of 21, he acquired Tecelagem Santa Cruz. In addition, the entrepreneur continued to work in both jobs at the same time. This period was very important for the start of his business career, which later gave rise to what would become Havan.
Luciano Hang and Havan
In the 1980s, when Luciano and Vanderlei de Limas, his partner at the time, noticed the growing number of tourists looking for clothes and textiles, they decided to open a store aimed at this segment.
So, in 1986, they founded Havan, whose name comes from a mixture of the names of the two founders. Hang would later buy out Vanderlei’s share of the business, becoming Havan’s sole owner.
The growth of the business and the sale of new products led the company to move to larger premises in 1989. In 1995, given the company’s level of expansion, Havan’s first branch was opened in the city of Curitiba.
At the same time, the stores began to be standardized so that their buildings resembled the White House, the seat of the Executive Branch of the United States.
In addition, the first replica of the Statue of Liberty was installed, another icon that would become the store’s symbol.
In 1999, the company underwent one of its biggest overhauls. Sensing a market trend, the owner of the Havan store transformed the enterprise into a business focused on the department store segment.
Before long, the company was expanded its operations to other cities in the south of the country, such as
Balneario Camboriu, Criciuma, Curitiba, Florianopolis and Joinville.
Havan’s of Havan
In 2003, Havan launched its e-commerce. In 2013, the Hang group began the project to expand its stores to other regions of the country.
In 2017, Havan reached the milestone of 100 stores across the country, reinforcing its position as the leading brand in the segment in Brazil.
Little by little, the company began to offer more and more varieties of products. Currently, Havan has products in several lines, such as household appliances, bed and bath, fashion, toys and others.
The company is also investing in logistics (supply chain), with a distribution center that enables faster delivery of its products. As a measure of innovation, it is also possible to make purchases via an exclusive app.
To meet new demands, Havan has implemented service through virtual assistants, directly through WhatsApp and self-service.
Havan also sponsors a soccer team, Brusque Futebol Clube, and has an eSports team, which has even competed in the League of Legends championships.
Luciano Hang’s image was not so well exploited by the company for some time. Because of this, many began to ask “who owns Havan?” As of 2017, according to the businessman himself, he began to appear more publicly.
Despite being a company that has seen huge sales in recent years, it has not yet had an IPO on the stock exchange.
Luciano Hang and political activism
In 2018, he gained the spotlight by openly campaigning for the Social Liberal Party (PSL) candidate, Jair Bolsonaro, who was elected president of the Republic in October of the same year.
At the time, the businessman caused controversy by appearing in a video in which he encouraged his employees to vote for Bolsonaro. He suggested that the company would be forced to lay them off if they didn’t and an opponent won the election.
In the 2022 presidential elections, Luciano Hang continued to show himself as a sympathizer and supporter of Jair Bolsonaro’s re-election campaign.
Luciano Hang’s controversies
In 2018, he gained the spotlight by openly campaigning for the Social Liberal Party (PSL) candidate, Jair Bolsonaro, who was elected president of the Republic in October of the same year.
At the time, the businessman caused controversy by appearing in a video in which he encouraged his employees to vote for Bolsonaro. He suggested that the company would be forced to make redundancies if they didn’t and an opponent won the election.
The businessman was also accused of financing, through Havan, the sending of mass messages via WhatsApp.
The mass messages allegedly contained false and sensationalist news that induced the population to vote for Jair Bolsonaro.
It should be noted that Luciano Hang is one of the richest men in the world and is on the select list of Brazilian billionaires. During his undergraduate studies, the businessman was president of the Brusque University Students’ Club (CEUB) for three years.