Brazil retail billionaire Abilio Diniz dies at 87

FILE PHOTO: Abilio Diniz, the third largest Carrefour shareholder gestures during a meeting of the Council for Economic and Social Development (CDES) at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil March 21, 2018. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino/File Photo

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian billionaire Abilio Diniz, who built an empire in the supermarket retail sector, died on Sunday in Sao Paulo, according to his press office.

The 87-year-old had been hospitalized at the Albert Einstein Hospital and suffered respiratory failure due to pneumonitis, his press office said in a statement.