Nubank CEO Bets $82 Billion Empire on Worldwide Expansion Plan

David Velez’s favorite anecdote — the origin story of Latin America’s second-most valuable financial company — begins with a bulletproof door.

It was 2012, and Velez, then a 31-year-old partner at Sequoia Capital, was trying to open a bank account in Sao Paulo. Passing through that high-security entrance at a bank branch he would later liken to a prison, Velez was immediately surrounded by armed security guards because his mobile phone had tripped alarms in the metal detector.

Finally cleared to proceed, his ordeal was far from over. Months of bureaucratic hurdles followed, including multiple visits to the bank, ...