He was an elite Jamaican entrepreneur who moved to Haiti in 1911.Brandt made his fortune working with the Haitian Canadian bank during the 1930s.
He became most powerful during WW II. When war was declared on the Axis powers, the Haitianstate confiscated property from nationals of Axis nations. Brandt acquired much of this property, including Reinbold and Company, the leading import-export firm that controlled the coffee, cotton, and oil trade.
Through these acquisitions, Brandt quickly rose to become one of the wealthiest men in the country. His rise was facilitated by government corruption, which then enlarged the socio-economic divisions in Haiti.
The Haitian government recognized him by naming a medical laboratory after him and awarding him the national order of honor and merit. He also later attempted to build a shipping line in Haiti.
He benefited from the brief postwar boom in imported goods and participated in the black market for items such as cooking oil, basic food items, soap, and fabrics.
As a demonstration of efforts to curb the black market, President Estimé introduced restrictions, and Brandt was imprisoned for three days. Despite his imprisonment, Brandt was made an honorary citizen of Port-au-Prince shortly after his release.
Local criticism regarding the link between political figures, such as Duvalier, and the business community sometimes referenced “the dollars of O. J. Brandt”.
