The "middle-class" life that Eike has been leading.

Felipe Moreno

SÃO PAULO - Last week, the Brazilian middle class gained a new self-proclaimed member: Eike Batista, who once held the title of the richest man in the country – and aspired to possess the greatest fortune in the world. There was no shortage of jokes on the internet about how Eike should behave now that he is a "mere" ordinary citizen.

But there's a small difference: Eike still lives a life of luxury, far above that of anyone in the middle, upper, middle, or lower class in Brazil. And his "salary," of R$ 5 million annually—as Eike had stated—is 15.267 times higher than the average income of a middle-class person, according to calculations by Veja magazine.

Eike, who has a net debt of US$1 billion, declared himself a "salaried employee" to the magazine, although he conceded that he has the potential to receive a stake "in those remaining assets," as he referred to his former companies. Once the owner of an empire that included MMX Mineração, LLX Logística, CCX Carvão, MPX Energia, REX Empreendimentos Imobiliários, AUX Mineração, OSX Brasil, and the company's star, OGX Petróleo, Eike now only controls MMX and CCX. The rest have been sold or are in bankruptcy protection.

The mega-businessman still holds a significant stake in most of them, but even so, his net worth is negative – although he hopes that the appreciation of these assets will allow him to get out of this uncomfortable situation. However, his life doesn't seem to have been greatly affected by this "small" debt.

Very luxurious

He still drives around Rio de Janeiro in an armored Hilux with four bodyguards. He still lives in a 3.500 square meter mansion (on a 70 square meter plot), near Christ the Redeemer, in Jardim Botânico. A house somewhat outside the norm for the middle class, which is often crammed into apartments that, many times, don't have a hundredth of the square footage of the ex-billionaire's mansion.

Although a good portion of the middle class owns beach houses, Eike's is far above the standards of that social class. It's a two-story mansion in Angra dos Reis, in Vila Velha Bay. In addition, he can sleep at his girlfriend Flávia Sampaio's house – a R$5,3 million penthouse in Ipanema that he bought himself. None of the properties are in his name: the first two are in the names of his sons, Thor and Olin, and the third in Flávia's name, with whom he has a one-year-old son named Balder.

All of these properties were recently transferred, raising questions about whether Eike Batista might be trying to protect his assets in light of recent insider trading accusations. Perhaps. The mega-businessman may face serious complications ahead, and his assets are frozen. All the R$117 million remaining in his name.

This did not prevent him from selling AUX for US$400 million last week in Doha, Qatar, just a day before his assets were frozen. The money will go to creditors, especially Mubadala, Itaú, and Bradesco, to whom Eike owes the largest sums. From Doha, he went to New York for a meeting. He stayed in downtown Manhattan, in a five-star hotel – the same one he stayed in when he wasn't middle class. He traveled around the city by van and limousine.

At least he saved money on the trip: instead of using his Gulfstream jet, he flew on a commercial plane, in first class, even though most of the middle class uses business or economy class. His fleet of private jets, which previously consisted of four planes and two helicopters, now only has one jet and one helicopter. Eike also owns a 115-foot yacht, purchased in 2009.

Although much smaller than in the past, Eike's fleet is far larger and more expensive than the cars of a middle-class family, which generally has one or two cars – perhaps three, for the children. Eike owns a Hilux and some sports cars, although he sold his Lamborghini and his Mercedes-Benz. At most, an upper-middle-class person owns a Corolla or a Civic.

At least in one thing Eike is quite similar to the Brazilian middle class: debt. Half of this social class is in debt, for a variety of reasons, ranging from revolving credit card debt to financing cars and real estate. In this respect, Eike differs little, although his debt is "a little higher" than most of the middle class.