Ilson Mateus Rodrigues is one of those cases you see on the stock market and keep thinking: how did a guy who started gold prospecting in Serra Pelada become a billionaire? Well, this story is real.

What draws attention to Ilson Mateus Rodrigues is not only the estimated fortune of around US$1.7 billion (according to Forbes in 2022), but mainly how he built the Mateus Group from scratch, in regions that many people ignored. Born in Imperatriz, Maranhão, in the 1960s, he had no inheritance or family connections. He tried his luck in gold prospecting in the early 1980s, it didn’t work out, and then the real game began.

He returned to Maranhão and opened a small grocery store in Balsas. Nothing extraordinary at first, but Ilson Mateus Rodrigues had something that many entrepreneurs don’t: the ability to see beyond the obvious. While moving goods between cities, he realized there was room to grow. During the Cruzado Plan, when everyone was afraid to invest, he did the opposite — bought stock on credit. Risky? Very. But it worked.

The Mateus Warehouse evolved into supermarkets, then into the cash and carry model with the Mix Mateus brand. He diversified with appliances, created his own food industry, and built modern distribution centers. While competitors focused on São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Ilson Mateus Rodrigues dominated the North and Northeast — markets with less competition but huge potential.

The turning point was the IPO in 2020. During the pandemic, the Mateus Group went public on B3 and raised approximately R$4.63 billion — the largest initial public offering in Brazil that year. Revenue was R$9.9 billion in 2019. With the money, he accelerated expansion, strengthened logistics, and partnered with Banco Bradesco to create MateusCard.

For those following the retail market, the case of Ilson Mateus Rodrigues is almost mandatory. It shows that it’s not necessary to be in the Rio-São Paulo axis to build something relevant. His strategy was simple but effective: regional focus, hybrid model (retail + wholesale), vertical integration, and disciplined growth. Of course, there are risks — geographic concentration, pressured margins in retail, sensitivity to middle and lower-class consumption — but the resilience of the model speaks for itself.

Ilson Mateus Rodrigues’ story is not only inspiring for entrepreneurs. For investors, it’s a reminder that real opportunities exist outside the big centers, in well-structured companies with focused leadership. If you want to better understand the potential of Brazilian retail beyond the obvious, this case is worth studying.