José_Hawilla
José Hawilla
Brazilian businessman
José Hawilla (11 July 1943 – 25 May 2018) was a Brazilian businessman, the owner and founder of Traffic Group, a multinational sports marketing conglomerate.
Hawilla was born in São José do Rio Preto to parents of Lebanese origin, in the state of São Paulo, and began his career as a sports journalist.[1] In 1980, Hawilla founded the Traffic Group, Brazil’s largest sports marketing company.[2] He died in a São Paulo hospital on 25 May 2018 at the age of 74 of respiratory failure.[3] He had been ill with pulmonary hypertension, fibrosis, emphysema and throat cancer.[4]