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Antonio Curt Semler founded Semco in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1953. The company was primarily into the production of marine machinery. After his son, Ricardo Semler, became the Chief Executive Officer, Semco diversified into other businesses like banking, environmental services and e-business. Ricardo desired to change Semco into a democratic organisation for which he adopted the philosophy of employee empowerment. Ricardo was against the autocratic style of management, and was for participative management. Under Ricardo, Semco''s revenues rose from $35 million in 1990 to $160 million in 2003. Semco soon came to be known as the ''unusual kind of workplace''.