Top 10 Richest People in Costa Rica as at June 2019

10. Giannina Facio

Giannina Facio, Lady Scott is a Costa Rican actress as well as a producer who has appeared in several films, especially those of her husband who is British film director and producer named Sir Ridley Scott. Giannina Facio was born on September 10 in the year 1955. The very first work of Giannina Facio was with Scott on Gladiator where she has been his partner since Hannibal. Gladiator was the first of two films in which she plays the role of wife of Russell Crowe’s character, and another role was of Body of Lies. Since Gladiator, Facio has appeared in all of the Scott movies, except in American Gangster and The Martian. 

09. Joel Campbell

Joel Nathaniel Campbell Samuels locally known as ʒoel kambel was born on June 26 in the year 1992. Joel Nathaniel Campbell is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays for Real Betis on loan from Arsenal and the national team of Costa Rica. Campbell is a great football player who plays as a forward but can be deployed on the wings as well. Campbell joined Arsenal in the year 2011 and later, he was assigned to the French Lorient team, the Spanish Real Betis team and then the Greek Olympics team.

Campbell's career began with Saprissa in the year 2009 before being sent on loan to Puntarenas in January 2011. On 28 July 2011, Costa Rican television published the news that Campbell had come to an agreement with Arsenal, after having been discovered by club named scout Danny Karbassiyoon. Campbell later declared that while he had not yet signed, talks were taking place. On the date, 6 August, Costa Rican media published news that Campbell was set to sign a five-year deal with Arsenal after rejecting moves to Seville and Fiorentina.

Pursuing a great career and name in football, Campbell has so far earned over 90 caps for Costa Rica. He was a member of the squad which won the Copa Centroamericana in the year 2014. He was also part of the Costa Rican side which reached the last eight of the FIFA World Cup in the same year, and played in the 2018’s FIFA World Cup as well. Campbell also helped Costa Rica to get into the quarter-finals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup in the year 2015 and the semifinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup which was held in the year 2017.

08. Nery Brenes

Nery Antonio Brenes Cárdenas is a Costa Rican sprinter. He was born on September 25 in the year 1985. He is one of the most prominent and consistent athletics athletes in Costa Rica and has reached the semifinals in the 400 m sprint at the Olympic Games in Beijing in the year 2008. 

Brenes won the gold medal at the IAAF Indoor World Championship in the year 2012 at Istanbul where he was responsible for setting a new national and championship record. His personal trainer and motivator Andrés Oro Fijo Calderón says that “Brenes improved his personal mark in about a second, something nobody expected in a championship, taking the gold medal”. 

He has participated in most important sports events like the World Athletics Championship which was held at Osaka, Japan in the year 2007 and achieved a fourth place in the IAAF Indoor World Championship in 2008 in Valencia, Spain. He also finished in 3rd place in another important sports event called ÅF Golden League in 2008 meeting in Oslo, Norway.

07. Maribel Guardia

Maribel Guardia is a Costa Rican as well as a Mexican television actress, model, singer and a presenter. Maribel del Rocío Fernández-García was born on May 29, 1959 in San José which is situated in Costa Rica. She was winner of Miss Costa Rica 1978 and contestant in Miss Universe in the year 1978. The Miss Universe pageant had been held in Acapulco, where she received offers from a Television producer named Sergio Bustamante in order to build a career there, but she returned to her country at that time. But after a few months, she accepted the offer and returned to Mexico and started a career in television.

Guardia has a good career as an actress. She acted alongside important actors, which includes Andrés García, Saul Lisazo, and Joan Sebastian. One of her major soap operas which are a very popular hit was alongside Sebastian. They together filmed Tú y yo. She and another El Rey de Los Taxistas co-star, Aida Pierce has also worked together.

In the year 2008, she released a new album which was the main single  "De Pecho A Pecho'' which means from Chest To Chest basically written by the Nicaraguan composer, songwriter and singer Hernaldo Zúñiga. Apart from her jobs as an actress as well as a singer, she has also done modeling for various calendars and magazines as well.

06. Franklin Chang Díaz

Franklin Ramón Chang Díaz is an American mechanical, physical as well as Costa Rican engineer. He is a former NASA astronaut as well.  Franklin Ramón Chang Díaz was born on April 5, 1950. He is founder and current CEO of Ad Astra Rocket Company and member of the board of directors of Cummins as well. He became a US citizen in the year 1977. He comes from a Chinese background as his paternal side belongs to china and he relates to Costa Rican Spanish as it is his maternal side.

He is a veteran of seven space shuttle missions by NASA, which makes him the record holder for most space flights. This happened in 2018. He shares this record with Jerry L. Ross where he was the third Latin American and the first Hispanic American to go to space and set this record. Chang Diaz is a member of NASA’s Astronaut Hall of Fame as well.

05. Laura Chinchilla

Laura Chinchilla Miranda is a Costa Rican politician who was president of Costa Rica between the years 2010 and 2014. She was born on March 28, 1959. She was the PLN governor candidate for President in the year 2010 for the general election. This election was won by her with 46.76% of the vote on February 7. 

She was the eighth female president of a Latin American country and very first woman to become president of Costa Rica as well. Baroness Kinnock who is The British Foreign and Commonwealth minister with responsibility for Central America applauded Chinchilla's election as the first female President of Costa Rica. Chinchilla was also praised for her continued support for forward thinking approach by the previous government in working to combat climate change.

04. Óscar Arias

Óscar Arias Sánchez was president of Costa Rica from the year 1986 to 1990 and from 2006 to 2010 as well. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in the year 1987 for his efforts in order to end the Central American crisis. 

He has also received the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism. He is a member of the board of directors of Economists for Peace and Security as well. In the year 2003, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the Trust Fund which works for the victims of the International Criminal Court.

03. Johnny Araya Monge

Johnny Francisco Araya Monge is a Costa Rican politician. He was born on April 29 in the year 1957. From 1998 to 2001, he was the mayor of the country’s capital, San José. He was again on the same post since 2003.

He also worked as co-president of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) from the year 2010 to 2013. He is also a member of the National Liberation Party (PLN). He worked as a presidential candidate in the 2014 elections as well.

02. Antonio Álvarez Desanti

Antonio Álvarez Desanti is a Costa Rican politician, lawyer and a renowned businessman. He has served twice as president of Congress. He worked as a National Liberation presidential candidate for the 2018 national elections.

Antonio Álvarez Desanti was born in San José, on date July 6, 1958. Beginning his primary studies at the Calasanz College, he moved forward and studied Law at the University of Costa Rica. In the year 1981, he obtained a degree in Law. Later in the early 1990s he completed a Master’s Degree in International Tax Law from Harvard University.

In the year 1978, he founded a small financial company. Later in the year 1980, a company dedicated to the sowing of peanuts and the process of packing and distribution of roasted products. This work later expanded to such more products which includes cashew seed. In the year 1981, he also dedicated himself and the company to the production, sale and distribution of shoes in the national market.

01. Alberto Salom Echeverría

Alberto Luis Salom Echeverría is a Costa Rican politician as well as a political scientist. He also works as a rector of the National University. He was a deputy of the Partido Acción Ciudadana and a former councilor of the Municipality of San José and student leader of the left.

He studied at Buenaventura Corrales School from 1959 to 1964. Later, he went to Saint Francis College (1965-1969). He graduated with a degree of Bachelor of Political Science and Doctor of Government and Public Policy from the University of Costa Rica itself.

He began his political career in adolescence, starting with being president of the Student Government of his secondary school in 1969. Then he remained as president of the Federation of Students of the UCR from the year 1974 to 1975. During his period of presidency, he led some of the highest student protests bettering the future of the student community. Militant of the left, he worked as the founder of the Costa Rican Socialist Party and of Pueblo Unid where he was also a councilor in San José between the period from 1978 to 1982. In 1987 he would become an advisor to the social-Christian parliamentarian Javier Solís.

Later, he founded a progress party along with Isaac Felipe Azofeifa and others which, when dissolved, would lead to the Democratic Force. However, Salom moderated his position and adhered to the Citizen Action Party (center-left) since the period of February 2002, the party by which he was elected deputy in the year 2006.

During his massive career, He has published many books as well as articles in magazines and newspapers of national circulation.