About Silvio Santos Silvio Santos (real name Senor Abravanel, born on December 12, 1930) is a Brazilian TV show host and billionaire entrepreneur. He is the owner of SBT, the second largest television network in the country. Santos was born in Rio de Janeiro, in the Lapa region. He is of Sephardi Jewish descent and was born to Turkish and Greek immigrant parents. Despite his humble beginnings, working as a street vendor, he had a strong affinity for artistic endeavors and took up jobs on the radio, circus and television.He became one of the major TV hosts in Brazil. His greatest achievement was founding SBT in 1981, where he still fronts various shows. Santos' business conglomerate today also includes banks, retailers, cosmetics manufacturers, agribusiness ventures and hotels. He is the single biggest taxpayer natural person in Brazil. Additionally, Santos is known as a benefactor of the Jewish community. He has influenced Brazilian television in many ways, particularly by producing local versions of popular international formats such as Celebrity Big Brother, Candid Camera, The Biggest Loser, Wheel of Fortune, Family Feud, Deal or No Deal, the RTL Idols franchise, and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?. The Abravanel family (also spelled Abarbanel or Abrabanel) is one of the oldest and most distinguished Jewish families of the Iberian peninsula; they trace their origins from the biblical King David. Parts of this family, including Silvio Santos' branch, moved to Salonika around 1492 to escape religious persecution of Jews in Iberia. Silvio Santos is a descendant of philosopher Isaac Abrabanel.