ORLANDO - September 3, 2015 - Orlando City SC Chairman and Majority Owner Flávio Augusto da Silva was recently named the most inspirational Brazilian leader and second most inspirational world leader by Cia de Talentos, the largest career consulting firm in Latin America.

Only U.S. President Barack Obama received more votes than da Silva among international leaders in the survey taken by 67,000 Brazilian students. Global personalities including Bill Gates and Pope Francis were included on the prestigious list. This is the second year da Silva was ranked in the survey. In 2014, the Brazilian entrepreneur was ranked as the 4th most inspirational Brazilian leader and the 8th most inspirational world leader.

“I'd like to thank everyone that has mentioned me in this survey,” said Augusto da Silva. “Among the many professional endeavors throughout the last two decades, I believe this recognition represents the voluntary work I’ve been doing through Geração de Valor over the last four years, where I’ve been trying to collaborate with other young entrepreneurs who are getting started with their professional lives, providing them with some advice from my past experience.”

Geração de Valor is an online platform in Portuguese where da Silva regularly shares insights with young entrepreneurs.

da Silva got his start back in 1995 at age 23, with a $10,000 loan and a single idea – to teach fluent English to adults in 18 months. A mere 18 years later, Wise Up now has over 400 schools operating in six countries, and was an official sponsor of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

In 2013, da Silva’s businesses were acquired by Abril Educação, one of Latin America’s largest and most influential media companies, in one of the biggest deals in the history of the Brazilian education industry. Today, da Silva is the president of T-BDH CAPITAL which invests in new ventures focused on education and the technology industry. He is also involved in non-profit initiatives, such as Geração de Valor, which provides multi-media content to help young entrepreneurs succeed in their career or business. Each week, Mr. da Silva’s videos, posts and articles reach more than 10 million young people in 20 different countries.

da Silva's goal is to make Orlando City SC a preeminent global brand, and in the process, elevating MLS to the top three most relevant leagues in the world in the next eight years.

Global Ranking

1. Barack Obama

2. Flávio Augusto da Silva

3. Bill Gates

4. Papa Francisco

5. Jorge Paulo Lemann

6. Steve Jobs

7. Sílvio Santos

8. Mark Zuckerberg

9. Roberto Justus

10. Bel Pesce

Brazilian Ranking

1. Flávio Augusto da Silva

2. Jorge Paulo Lemann

3. Sílvio Santos

4. Roberto Justus

5. Bel Pesce

6. Joaquim Babosa

7. Father / Mother

8. Dilma Rousseff

9. Abílio Diniz

10. Boss/ Former boss