Bolsonaro's biggest donors in 2022 will not finance Flávio Bolsonaro's campaign in 2026

The businesspeople who made the largest donations to Jair Bolsonaro's (PL) campaign in 2022, offering amounts exceeding R$1 million, did not finance Flávio Bolsonaro's (PL) campaign in 2026.

Fabiano Zettel, brother-in-law of former banker Daniel Vorcaro, who was the largest individual donor to Jair Bolsonaro in 2022, with R$3 million, can no longer repeat the feat because he is in prison, involved in the Banco Master scandal.

The second largest, Salim Mattar, founder of the car rental company Localiza, who allocated R$1.8 million to his father in the last election, was also left out of direct donations to his son.

Mattar, who held the position of secretary of the Ministry of Economy during the Bolsonaro government, allocated his donations to legislative candidacies this year.

Direct donations to candidates are often seen as support that goes beyond financial support. Some cases end up generating great repercussion on social media, with exposure of the donor and the company, as the gesture is interpreted as an endorsement from the businessman to the politician.

One of the most notorious cases was Luciano Hang, owner of the Havan network, who has positioned himself as one of the biggest supporters of Bolsonarism in the private sector since the 2018 election. Hang became famous for the videos he published on the internet attacking Lula and the PT. In 2022, he donated R$1 million to Jair's candidacy.

This year, Hang did not make any direct donations to Flávio Bolsonaro. The businessman only financed candidates for deputy and senator.

The report sought out Hang's advisor to question why he decided not to finance Flávio's campaign, but he did not comment on the matter.

In January 2023, Hang spoke about Lula's victory, recognizing the result and wishing "the pilot" luck. Since then, he has adopted a more discreet stance, avoiding positions on party political issues.

Another highly exposed case was that of Jorge Eduardo Beira, from the Ypê controlling family. The surname, which was little known to the general consumer public, went viral on the internet when family members donated a total of R$1.5 million.

Jorge Beira, who donated R$750,000 to Jair Bolsonaro in 2022, also did not appear on Flávio's list of financiers this year.

Members of the Grendene Bartelle family — from the footwear manufacturer Grendene, which brings together brands such as Ipanema, Rider and Melissa, and from Vulcabras, with brands such as Mizuno, Olympikus and Under Armour —, the brothers Alexandre Grendene Bartelle and Pedro Grendene Bartelle donated R$1 million each to their father in 2022, but did not donate anything to their son now.

The same happened with rural producers Hugo de Carvalho Ribeiro (from Amaggi), Oscar Luiz Cervi (Grupo Cervi), Cornélio Adriano Sanders (Grupo Progresso).

Also from Localiza, Antônio Cláudio Brandão Resende and Flávio Brandão Resende, who donated R$600,000 each to Jair in 2022, did not donate to Flávio again in 2026.

In a statement sent to the report, Cornélio Sanders' advisor said that, at this time, he "chose to maintain a position of neutrality in relation to the electoral process, not expressing support for specific candidacies."

In a note, he states that he "prefers not to comment on personal decisions related to donations or participation in electoral campaigns" and that "the position adopted seeks to preserve this neutrality, without any judgment in relation to candidates, parties or political groups".

Folha tried to contact the other businessmen mentioned, but received no response.