Meet The 2018 EY World Entrepreneur of The Year

Founders and business leaders from 50 countries were present at a black-tie ceremony June 16th in Monaco to celebrate global entrepreneurship.

Now in it's 18th year, the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Awards has been recognizing the impact and innovations of entrepreneurs from all across the world.

What began as an intimate awards ceremony has evolved into a forum touching on all of the contemporary issues effecting entrepreneurs worldwide.

This year was no different.

The agenda encompassed everything from cross industry collaboration and artificial intelligence to navigating geopolitical uncertainty.

In between breakout sessions and panels, there was just the kind of activity you'd come to expect while in Monaco, one of the richest cities in the world for a week: fine dining, networking sessions on yachts and much more.

But don't let the luxe fool you.

These high performance entrepreneurs all earned a seat at the table, and the process of selecting a winner was intense.

Each of the country winners were judged based on six criteria: financial performance, strategic direction, innovation, global impact, personal integrity, influence and philanthropy.

After spending considerable time reading through in-depth profiles, interviews and other research on each of the nominees, the independent judging panel made their decision.

Rubens Menin has been crowned the 2018 EY World Entrepreneur of the Year. 

Back when he was growing up in Brazil, Menin saw just how difficult home ownership was for families. Today, 1 in every 200 Brazilians lives in a property built by his company, MRV Engenharia. 

It's both Brazil’s leading low-income housing builder and now Latin America’s largest residential real estate developer, with over 300,000 properties to their credit.

Despite the vast and significant employment and income generating opportunities he's responsible for, the social development side has never been lost on him. "Our business is not just about economic development and income creation" Menin told EY.

It's a role Menin takes seriously. His company has invested US$302m in infrastructure projects, including everything from road, sewage and lighting to schools, daycare and health care centers.

Not to mention the 1 million trees they've planted, helping extract over 500,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

“Throughout my life, I have pursued the purpose of bringing the dignity of homeownership to people for whom this is an unobtainable dream. I am very proud to be recognized in this way but the work does not stop here" said Menin.

"The construction industry is well positioned to further enact positive civil impact. I believe economic empowerment is not just about wealth generation but also social development and MRV’s legacy will continue for generations to come” Menin finished.