Portugal vetoed António Champalimaud's bank deal with Santander until Brussels overruled it for the first time

António Champalimaud built a cement, steel, banking and insurance group under Salazar. His family fought over money for decades. Sábado counted more than 30 lawsuits among him and his siblings, and one brother spent four years in preventive detention. His mother's estate, opened in 1977, was still being divided more than 40 years later; her Mercedes sold at auction in 2009 for €3,500. After the 1974 revolution his banks and insurers were nationalised and he left for Brazil^†. He came back and rebuilt control of Mundial Confiança and four banks. On 9 June 1999 he agreed to swap 40% of his holding companies for 1.6% of Spain's Banco Santander Central Hispano (BSCH). On 18 June the Portuguese finance minister vetoed it. On 20 July the European Commission suspended the veto, the first time it stopped a member state blocking a merger. Portugal did not comply, and on 3 November the Commission took it to the Court of Justice. A new deal followed in January 2000: BSCH took Totta & Açores and Crédito Predial, state-owned Caixa Geral de Depósitos took Mundial Confiança, and Champalimaud received 4.14% of BSCH. Forbes valued him at $3.1 billion in 2004. His will founded the Champalimaud Foundation with €500 million^† and named former health minister Leonor Beleza its president. Its Lisbon research centre opened in 2010. Sábado reported in 2021 that his son Luís, heir to more than €200 million, had sold farms and handed two estates to the bank BCP.