Jump to content

Carlos Slim

Checked
Page protected with pending changes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For his son, see Carlos Slim Domit.
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Slim and the second or maternal family name is Helú.

Carlos Slim Helú
Slim in 2018
Born (1940-01-28) 28 January 1940 (age 84)
Mexico City, Mexico
EducationNational Autonomous University of Mexico (BS)
Occupation(s)Business magnate, Investor, Philanthropist
Known for
Spouse
Soumaya Domit
​
​
(m. 1967; died 1999)​
Children6, including Carlos
RelativesAlfredo Harp Helú (cousin)
Arturo Elías Ayub (son-in-law)
Websitecarlosslim.com

Carlos Slim Helú (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkaɾlos esˈlin eˈlu; - esˈlim -];[1] born 28 January 1940) is a Mexican business magnate, investor, and philanthropist.[2][3] From 2010 to 2013, Slim was ranked as the richest person in the world by Forbes business magazine.[4][5] He derived his fortune from his extensive holdings in a considerable number of Mexican companies through his conglomerate, Grupo Carso.[6] As of December 2023, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index ranked him as the 11th-richest person in the world, with a net worth of $105 billion or about 7% of Mexico's GDP,[7] making him the richest person in Latin America.[7]

Slim's corporate conglomerate spans numerous industries across the Mexican economy, including education, health care, industrial manufacturing, transportation, real estate, mass media, mining, energy, entertainment, technology, retail, sports and financial services. However, the core of his fortune derives from telecommunications, where he owns América Móvil (with operations throughout Latin America) and the Mexican carrier Telcel and ISP Telmex, a state-run-gone-private company which maintained a virtual monopoly for many years after Slim's acquisition.[2][3][8][9] He accounts for 40% of the listings on the Mexican Stock Exchange,[8] while his net worth is equivalent to about 6% of Mexico's gross domestic product.[10] As of 2016, he was the largest single shareholder of non-voting shares of the New York Times Company. In 2017, he sold half of his shares.[11]

Early life

[edit]

Slim was born on 28 January 1940, in Mexico City,[12] to Julián Slim Haddad (born Khalil Salim Haddad Aglamaz) and Linda Helú Atta, both Maronite Christians from Lebanon.[13][14][15] He decided at a young age that he aspired to be a businessman as a future career in mind,[5][16] and received business lessons from his father, who taught him basic financial, business management, and accounting principles by instructing him in how to analyze and interpret financial statements in addition to stressing the young Carlos in the importance of keeping accurate financial records when doing business.[17]

At the age of 11, Slim invested in a government savings bond, which taught him about the concept of compound interest. Adhering to his father's emphasis on the importance of keeping accurate financial records, he eventually saved every financial and business transaction he ever made into a personal ledger book, which he still keeps to this day.[18] At the age of 12, he made his first stock investment, by buying shares outright of a Mexican bank.[19] By the age of 15, Slim had become a shareholder in Mexico's largest bank.[10] At the age of 17, he earned 200 pesos a week working for his father's company.[20] He went on to study civil engineering at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where he also concurrently taught algebra and linear programming.[21][22][23]

Though Slim was a civil engineering major, he also displayed an interest in economics. Broadening his academic interests outside his traditional area of study beyond civil engineering, he took economics courses in Chile when he completed his engineering degree.[16] Graduating as a civil engineering major, Slim has stated that his mathematical ability and his background of linear programming was a key factor in helping him gain a competitive edge in the business world, especially when analyzing the financial statements of prospective companies while making his business decisions as well as evaluating potential investment acquisitions and stock purchases.[17][24][25]

Business career

[edit]

1960s

[edit]

After graduating from university in 1961, Slim launched his business career by starting off as a stock trader in Mexico, often working 14-hour days to make a name for himself in the Mexican business world.[5] In 1965, profits from Slim's private business and investment ventures reached US$400,000,[26] enabling him to start the stock brokerage house Inversora Bursátil.[23] He also began laying the financial groundwork for his eventual conglomerate, Grupo Carso.[27] In 1965, he also acquired Jarritos del Sur, a Mexican bottling and soft drink company. In 1966, worth US$40 million,[26][28] he established Inmuebles Carso, a Mexican real estate agency and holding company.

1970s

[edit]

Companies in the Mexican construction, soft drink, printing, real estate, bottling and mining industries were the initial focus of Slim's burgeoning business career.[10] He later expanded his business operations and commercial activities by venturing into numerous industries across the Mexican economy including auto parts, aluminum, airlines, chemicals, tobacco, cable and wire manufacturing, paper and packaging, copper and mineral extraction, tires, cement, retail, hotels, beverage distributors, telecommunications and financial services (Slim's Grupo Financiero Inbursa sells insurance and manages mutual funds and pension plans for millions of ordinary Mexicans).[27][29] By 1972, he had established or acquired a further seven businesses in these industry categories, which included the acquisition of a construction equipment rental company. In 1980, he consolidated his business interests by forming Grupo Galas as the parent company of a conglomerate that had interests in industrial manufacturing, construction, mining, retail, food, and tobacco.[21][5]

1980s

[edit]

In 1982, the Mexican economy contracted rapidly. As many banks were struggling and foreign investors were cutting back on investing and scurrying, Slim began investing heavily and acquired shares in a plethora of Mexican flagship businesses outright at depressed valuations.[5][10][30][31] Much of Slim's business dealings involved a simple strategy, which entails buying a business and retaining it for its cash flow, or eventually selling the stake at a greater profit in future, thereby netting the capital gains as well as reinvesting the initial principal into a new business.[32] In addition, the complexity of Grupo Carso's corporate conglomerate structural labyrinth web of companies allows Slim to purchase a manifold of stakes across a wide range of industries, thereby making the overall conglomerate nearly recession-proof in the event that one or more industry sectors of the Mexican economy underperform.[23]

Amidst the Mexican economic downturn before its gradual recovery in 1985, Slim invested heavily by snapping up numerous Mexican flagship companies for pennies on the dollar. He purchased all or a sizeable percentage of numerous Mexican businesses outright at significant discounts. Among the panoply of acquisitions that Slim procured included Empresas Frisco, a mining concessionary and chemical maker, Industrias Nacobre, a copper manufacturer, Reynolds Aluminio, a Mexican aluminum concern, Compañía Hulera Euzkadi (Mexico's largest tire maker), and Bimex hotels, a hotel chain. He also became the majority shareholder of Sanborn Hermanos, a prominent Mexican food retailer, gift shop and restaurant chain, which was later incorporated as Grupo Carso's retailing arm. In 1984, Slim spent US$13 million to acquire Mexican insurance agency Seguros de México, and later subsumed the company into the firm, Seguros Inbursa.[23] The value of his stake in Seguros eventually grew to being worth US$1.5 billion by 2007, after four spinoffs.[33] Slim also acquired a 40% and 50% interest in the Mexican arms of British American Tobacco and The Hershey Company, respectively. He acquired large blocks of Denny's and Firestone Tires. From Seguros de México, Fianzas La Guardiana and Casa de Bolsa Inbursa, he formed the Grupo Financiero Inbursa, a Mexican financial services provider. Many of these corporate acquisitions were financed by the income-generating revenues and cash flows derived from Cigatam, a Mexican tobacco distributor that he purchased in the economic downturn that hit Mexico during the early 1980s.[19][21]

In 1988, Slim bought Nacobre, a Mexican copper manufacturer that manufactured, marketed and distributed copper and copper alloy products, along with Química Fluor, a Mexican chemical maker.[21]

1990s

[edit]

Slim realized windfall profits in the early 1990s when the Mexican government began privatizing its telecom industry. Capitalizing on the bevy of potential business opportunities that could crop up and be exploited through this political change motivated Slim and his conglomerate Grupo Carso to acquire Telmex, a landline telecommunications operator from the Mexican government.[10] In 1990, Grupo Carso was floated as a public company initially in Mexico and then worldwide.[21] During the same year, Grupo Carso also acquired a majority ownership of Porcelanite, a Mexican tilemaker.[19]

To ultimately realize his further commercial business ambitions and reap the material benefits that would eventually transpire through the acquisition of Telmex, Slim acted in concert later in 1990 with the French telecom operator France Télécom and the American telco Southwestern Bell Corporation to purchase the landline telecommunications service provider from the Mexican government, when the opportunity for Slim to purchase the telco presented itself and materialized when Mexico began privatizing its national industries at the turn of the 1980s.[21] Slim was an early investment backer in Telmex, where the concomitant income-producing cash flows and revenue-generating profits of the telecommunications provider eventually formed the bulk of his private fortune.[32][34] By 2006, Telmex controlled and operated 90 percent of the telephone lines in Mexico, and his wireless telecommunications company, Telcel, which was created out of the Radiomóvil Dipsa company,[21] operated almost 80 percent of the entire country's cellphones.[35][32]

In 1991, he acquired Hoteles Calinda (now OSTAR Grupo Hotelero), a hotel chain and in 1993, he increased his stakes in General Tire, an American tiremaker and a distributor of aluminum profiles and aluminum concern Grupo Aluminio to the point where he had a majority interest in the company.[21]

In 1996, Slim split Grupo Carso into three separate constituent companies: Carso Global Telecom, Grupo Carso, and Invercorporación. In the following year, Slim bought the Mexican arm of Sears Roebuck.[21][19]

In 1999, Slim began expanding his business interests beyond Latin America. Though the bulk of his business holdings remained in Mexico, he began setting his sights on exploring the United States as a target destination to exploit potential foreign investment acquisitions and new emerging business opportunities.

2000s

[edit]

Slim made headlines within the American business scene in 2003 when he began purchasing large stakes in a number of major US retailers such as Barnes & Noble, OfficeMax, Office Depot, Circuit City, Borders, and CompUSA.[36] Much of the rationale behind Slim's international commercial expansion beyond Mexico was due to a running joke in Mexican business circles that "there was nothing left to acquire in Mexico."[36] He set up a Telmex USA branch and also acquired a stake in Tracfone, an American cellular telephone operator. Concurrently, Slim established Carso Infraestructura y Construcción, S. A. (CICSA) as a non-profit subsidiary construction and engineering firm within Grupo Carso.[21] During the same year, Slim underwent heart surgery and subsequently passed on much of his day-to-day corporate involvement to his children and their spouses.[35]

América Telecom, the holding company for América Móvil, was incorporated in 2000. Concurrently, Telmex also spun off its international cellular phone division for a $15 billion listing of América Móvil SA on the New York Stock Exchange.[37] Telmex has taken numerous stakes of various international cellular telephone operators outside of Mexico, including the Brazilian ATL and Telecom Americas concerns, Techtel in Argentina, and others in Guatemala and Ecuador. In subsequent years, the company made further investments across Latin America, with companies in Colombia, Nicaragua, Peru, Chile, Honduras, and El Salvador, well as a joint venture with the American software house, Microsoft called Tlmsn, a Spanish-language web portal.[36]

In 2005, Slim invested in Volaris, a Mexican airline[21] and founded Impulsora del Desarrollo y el Empleo en América Latina SAB de CV (using the acronym "IDEAL"—roughly translated as "Promoter of Development and Employment in Latin America"), a Mexican construction and civil engineering company primarily engaged in not-for-profit infrastructure development. Since 2006, IDEAL won three infrastructure contracts yet it faces stiff competition from a number of other Mexican and Spanish construction companies.[8][38]

Arriving at the Presidential Palace for a meeting with Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on 24 October 2007

In 2007, after having amassed a 50.1% stake in the Cigatam tobacco manufacturer, Slim sold a large portion of his equity to Philip Morris for US$1.1 billion. During the same year, Slim sold off his entire stake of Porcelanite for US$800 million, a Mexican tile-maker that he acquired back in 1990. He also licensed the Saks name and opened the Mexican arm of Saks Fifth Avenue retailer in Santa Fe, Mexico. Also in 2007, the estimated value of all of Slim's companies totaled US$150 billion.[23] On December 8, 2007, Grupo Carso announced that the remaining 103 CompUSA retail stores would be either liquidated or sold, bringing an end to the struggling company,[39] although the information technology division of CompUSA continued operating under the name Telvista around various American cities such as Dallas, Texas (U.S. Corporate Office) and Danville, Virginia. Telvista also has five centers in Mexico (three in Tijuana, one center in Mexicali, and one in México City).[40] After 28 years of corporate involvement, Slim became the Honorary Lifetime Chairman of the business.

In 2008, Slim took a 6.4% stake valued at $27 million in the New York Times Company, a prominent American newspaper publisher.[21] Slim increased his stake to 8% by 2012.[41] Slim's stake in the Times increased again to 16.8% of the company's Class A shares on 20 January 2015 when he exercised stock options to purchase 15.9 million shares, making him the largest shareholder in the company.[42][43] The New York Times Company's Class A shares are available for purchase by the public and offer less control over the company than Class B shares, which are privately held.[42] According to the company's 2016 annual filings, Slim owned 17.4% of the company's Class A shares, and none of the company's Class B shares.[44]

2010s

[edit]

In 2012, Slim sold the broadcast rights for the Leon games to the American terrestrial television network, Telemundo, the cable channel Fox Sports in Mexico and the rest of Latin America, and the website mediotiempo.com. The games are also broadcast on the Internet through UNO TV, offered by Telmex. Slim has been involved with broadcasting sports outside Mexico to larger markets such as the United States. In March 2012, América Móvil acquired the broadcast rights for the Olympic Games in Sochi 2014 and the Brazil 2016 for Latin America.[45]

In March 2012, Slim, along with American television host Larry King, established Ora TV, an on-demand digital television network that produces and distributes television shows including Larry King Now, Politicking with Larry King, Recessionista, and Jesse Ventura Uncensored.[46]

In September 2012, Slim bought 30% stakes in Pachuca and León, two Mexican soccer teams through his telecommunications company América Móvil. In December 2012, he bought all the shares of the second division team Estudiantes Tecos.[47] Slim has also completed business deals for the television rights to games of the Leon soccer team. His company América Móvil purchased 30 percent of the team along with transmission rights as Slim does not have the rights to transmit content by broadcast television or cable TV as well as putting him in competition with Televisa and TV Azteca, two television companies with rights to the rest of Mexican soccer's first division.[48][49]

In July 2013, Slim's company América Móvil invested US$40 million in Shazam, a British commercial mobile phone-based music identification service for an undisclosed share of ownership. América Móvil partnered with the company to aid its growth into advertising and television and help the audio recognition service expand in Latin America.[50][51]

In November 2013, Slim invested US$60 million in the Israeli startup Mobli, a company that deals with connections between people and communities corralled according to different interests.

In December 2013, Slim's private equity fund, Sinca Inbursa, sold its stake in the Mexican pharmaceutical company Landsteiner Scientific. Slim acquired a 27.51% stake in the company in June 2008, which represented 6.6% of Sinca's investment portfolio. The private equity fund's investments are mainly concentrated in the transportation and infrastructure sectors and the fund garnered a total market cap of 5.152 billion pesos at the end of 2012.[52]

On 23 April 2014, Slim took control of Telekom Austria, Austria's largest telecommunications company, which operates telcos in countries such as Bulgaria, Croatia, and Belarus, under a 10-year agreement. It was Slim's first successful business acquisition in Europe. In a syndicate holding structure the Austrian state holding company OIAG's 28% are combined with Slim's 27% ownership. América Móvil will spend as much as US$2 billion to buy out minority shareholders in a mandatory public offer and invest up to 1 billion euros (US$1.38 billion) into the company, which it sees as "platform for expansion into central and eastern Europe". Labor representatives boycotted attending the OIAG supervisory board meeting for 12 hours criticizing the lack of explicit job guarantees.[53]

In January 2015, Grupo Carso publicly launched Claro Musica, an online music service that is a Latin American equivalent of iTunes and Spotify. Slim, along with his son, increased their corporate presence in Mexico's music industry, particularly in the retail music sector since 2013. Sanborn's, the Mexican retail department store chain owned by Slim controls a majority stake in Mixup, Mexico's most successful retail music store that comprises a chain of 117-store Mexican retailers Mixup also generated more than US$320 million in revenue in 2014.[49]

In March 2015, Slim made his presence known in the Spanish business scene by buying stakes in various troubled Spanish companies while perusing potential acquisitions across Europe. Slim's investment company, Inmobiliaria Carso, announced it will buy a stake in the Spanish bank, Bankia, which couples with Slim's other purchase of Realia, a Spanish real estate company, where Slim is the second largest shareholder holding a 25% equity stake, behind Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas, a Spanish construction company where Slim is also an active minor shareholder.[54]

On April 15, 2015, Slim formed the oil company Carso Oil & Gas. A report that was released by the new company listed its assets at 3.5 billion pesos (approximately US$230 million), placed within 17.7 million shares. Upon the formation of the company, Slim remained sanguine about the company's future potential and Mexico's burgeoning energy sector where the state monopoly ceased to exist. [citation needed]

On July 25, 2015, Slim's investment group Control Empresarial de Capitales invested in IMatchative, a technology startup that ranks the world's hedge funds creating in-depth behavioral profiles and business analytics. Limited partners pay US$30,000 per subscription while hedge fund managers pay half the price and also sign up for a free version of the products the company offers.[55]

2020s

[edit]

On June 12, 2024, Slim acquired a 3% stake in British telecommunications company BT worth approximately £400million.[56]

Family and personal life

[edit]

Slim's father, Khalil Salim Haddad Aglamaz, was born on 17 July 1888[57] in Jezzine, Lebanon (then part of the Ottoman Empire). In 1902, at the age of 14, Haddad emigrated to Mexico alone, and later changed his name to Julián Slim Haddad.[13] It was not uncommon for Lebanese children to be sent abroad before they reached the age of 15 to avoid being conscripted into the Ottoman Army, and four of Haddad's older brothers were already living in Mexico at the time of his arrival.[21][unreliable source?]

In 1911, Julián established a dry goods retail store, La Estrella de Oriente (The Star of the Orient).[22] By 1921, he had begun investing in real estate in the flourishing commercial district of Mexico City where Julián acquired prime Mexican real estate at fire sale prices and in the Zocalo District during the 1910–17 Mexican Revolution.[5][10] By 1922, Julián's net worth reached $1,012,258 pesos, shrewdly diversified among a vast array of various cash flow-producing assets that included large swathes incoming-producing investment-grade real estate, a multifarious assemblage of privately-controlled businesses, and stocks.[22]

In August 1926, Julián Slim married Linda Helú Atta. Linda, of Lebanese ancestry, was born in Parral, Chihuahua. Her parents had immigrated to Mexico from Lebanon in the late 19th century. Upon immigrating to Mexico, her parents founded one of the first Arabic-language magazines for the Lebanese-Mexican community, using a printing press they had brought with them.[21] Julian and Linda had six children: Nour, Alma, Julián, José, Carlos, and Linda. Julián senior died in 1953, when Carlos was 13 years old.[21]

Julian's panoply of successful business ventures and investment undertakings became the source of considerable wealth for himself and his family.[21] As a prominent businessman and wealthy investor who remained a reputable pillar within the Lebanese Mexican community, Julian was known for his shrewd business acumen and his astute knack when making investments during bad economic cycles (which occurred frequently in Mexico).[27] Julián was known for his business savvy, strong work ethic, and commitment to traditional Lebanese moral values.[22]

In February 2011, Julian, the oldest brother of Carlos, died aged 74. He was an active businessman and worked in one of Mexico's top intelligence agencies.[58][59]

Personal life

[edit]

Carlos Slim was married to Soumaya Domit from 1967 until her death in 1999. Among her interests were various philanthropic projects.[21] Slim has six children: Carlos, Marco Antonio, Patrick, Soumaya, Vanessa, and Johanna. His three older sons serve in key positions in the companies controlled by Slim where most are involved in the day-to-day running of Slim's business empire.[2][8][17][60] Slim underwent heart surgery in 1999.[35] In high school, Slim's favorite subjects were history, cosmography, and mathematics.[17] Slim and his wife had a very happy marriage, and he indicated that he does not intend to remarry.[61]

In his office, Slim does not have a computer, and instead keeps all his financial data in hand-written notebooks.[17][10] Due to the vast size of his business empire, he often jokes that he cannot keep track of all the companies he manages.[6] Slim is a Maronite Catholic,[62][63] and he is one of the prominent backers of Legion of Christ, a Roman Catholic religious institute.[64][65]

Personal fortune

[edit]

Wealth

[edit]

On 29 March 2007, Slim surpassed American investor Warren Buffett as the world's second richest person with an estimated net worth of US$53.1 billion compared with Buffett's US$52.4 billion.[66]

On 4 August 2007, The Wall Street Journal ran a cover story profiling Slim. The article said, "While the market value of his stake in publicly traded companies could decline at any time, at the moment he is probably wealthier than Bill Gates".[67] According to The Wall Street Journal, Slim credits part of his ability to "discover investment opportunities" early to the writings of his friend, futurist author Alvin Toffler.[67]

On 8 August 2007, Fortune magazine reported that Slim had overtaken Gates as the world's richest person. Slim's estimated fortune soared to US$59 billion, based on the value of his public holdings at the end of July. Gates' net worth was estimated to be at least US$58 billion.[67][68]

On 5 March 2008, Forbes ranked Slim as the world's second-richest person, behind Warren Buffett and ahead of Bill Gates.[4] On 11 March 2009, Forbes ranked Slim as the world's third-richest person, behind Gates and Buffett and ahead of Larry Ellison.[4]

On 10 March 2010, Forbes once again reported that Slim had overtaken Gates as the world's richest person, with a net worth of US$53.5 billion. At the time, Gates and Buffett had a net worth of US$53 billion and US$47 billion respectively.[4] He was the first Mexican to top the list.[69] It was the first time in 16 years that the person on top of the list was not from the United States.[70] It was also the first time the person at the top of the list was from an emerging economy.[71] Between 2008 and 2010, Slim more than doubled his net worth from $35 to $75 billion.[8]

In March 2011, Forbes stated that Slim had maintained his position as the wealthiest person in the world, with his fortune estimated at US$74 billion.[4]

In December 2012, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Carlos Slim Helú remained the world's richest person with an estimated net worth of US$75.5 billion.[72]

On 5 March 2013, Forbes stated that Slim was still maintaining his first-place position as the wealthiest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$73 billion.[4] On 16 May 2013, Bloomberg L.P. ranked Slim the second-richest person in the world, after Bill Gates.[73]

On July 15, 2014, Forbes announced that Slim had reclaimed the position of the wealthiest person in the world, with a fortune of US$79.6 billion.[74]

In September 2014, Forbes listed Slim as number 1 on its list of billionaires with a net worth of US$81.6 billion.[4]

In December 2016, Slim's net worth was estimated to be US$48.1 billion.[4]

In 2017, his net worth was reported to be $54.5 billion.[75]

In 2019, his net worth was said to be at least $58.1 billion, making him the richest man in Mexico.[76]

In October 2020, his net worth was estimated at $53.7 billion.[77]

In 2021 Forbes stated his net worth as $73.3 billion.[78]

Real estate

[edit]
Carlos Slim, Adrián Barbón, José M. Sanguinetti, Juan M RiesgoVialás

Slim is an active real estate investor. His real estate holding company, Inmobiliaria Carso has developed, invested, owned and operated an extensive portfolio of residential and commercial real estate properties across Mexico since the 1960s.[79] His real estate company constructed Plaza Carso in Mexico City, where most of his business ventures share a common headquarters address.[80] Since the early 2000s to the mid-2010s, Slim has been making private real estate investments internationally beyond Mexico, particularly in Spain and the United States.[2]

In May 2014, Slim opened Inbursa Aquarium, Latin America's largest aquarium.[6] Slim owns the Duke Seamans mansion, a 1901 beaux arts house on 5th Avenue in New York City, which he bought for $44 million in 2010. The mansion is 20,000 square feet and has 12 bedrooms, 14 bathrooms, and a doctor's office in the basement.[2][81] In May 2015, he listed the property for sale at $80 million, nearly twice the amount of what he had initially paid for.[30] In April 2015, Slim bought the Marquette Building in Detroit and purchased PepsiCo Americas Beverages headquarters in Somers, New York, for US$87 million. Slim owns a second mansion in New York City at 10 West 56th Street, which he bought in 2011 for US$15.5 million.[30]

In March 2015, Slim began eyeing Spain as a potential investment destination, by purchasing cheap properties in Spain's real estate sector at rock-bottom prices in its ailing economy.[82]

Reactions

[edit]

Slim's immense wealth has been a subject of controversy, because it has been amassed in a developing country where average per capita income does not exceed US$14,500 a year, and nearly 17% of the population lives in poverty.[83] Critics claim that Slim is a monopolist, pointing to Telmex's control of 90% of the Mexican landline telephone market. Slim's wealth is the equivalent of roughly 5% of Mexico's annual economic output.[84] Telmex, of which 49.1% is owned by Slim and his family, charges among the highest usage fees in the world, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.[85][6][8]

According to Celso Garrido, economist at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Slim's domination of Mexico's conglomerates prevents the growth of smaller companies, resulting in a shortage of paying jobs, forcing many Mexicans to seek better lives in the U.S.[86]

Slim was criticized by the Dutch minister of economic affairs, Henk Kamp, in 2013 for attempting to expand his telecommunications empire beyond the Americas by América Móvil's buy-out offer to KPN, a Dutch landline and mobile telecommunications operator. Kamp reiterated his criticisms of Slim stating: "an acquisition of KPN by a 'foreign company' could have consequences for the Netherlands' national security".[87] Two years after Slim's failed bid to take over the company, mainly due to political intervention and Slim's paucity of interest in purchasing the company, Slim's América Móvil SAB began offering 2.25 billion euros. América Móvil now controls a 21.1 percent stake of KPN with a market value of 3.1 billion euros as of 20 May 2015. Slim has been slowly decreasing his holdings since he was forced to withdraw a 7.2-billion-euro bid for the Dutch phone line carrier in 2013 after negotiations collapsed.[88][89][90][91][92][3][31]

In response to the criticism, Slim has stated, "When you live for others' opinions, you are dead. I don't want to live thinking about how I'll be remembered [by Mexican people]," claiming indifference about his position on Forbes list of the world's richest people. He has said he has no interest in becoming the world's richest person. When asked to explain his sudden increase in wealth at a press conference soon after Forbes annual rankings were published, he said, "The stock market goes up ... and down", and noted that his fortune could quickly drop.[84]

In 2016, then presidential candidate and eventual 45th President of the United States Donald Trump accused Slim of being involved in editorial articles critical of him published in The New York Times during his 2016 presidential campaign. The Times responded to these accusations by saying that Slim had never interfered in editorial policy.[93] Later in 2017, Trump and Slim met in person. Slim spoke positively about the meeting.[94]

Philanthropy

[edit]

Slim has been publicly skeptical of The Giving Pledge by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett giving away at least half of their fortunes.[95] But—according to his spokesman—he devoted US$4 billion, or roughly 5%, to his Carlos Slim foundation as of 2011.[96] Though Slim has not gone as far as Gates and Buffett in pledging more than half of his fortune, Slim has expressed firm support for philanthropy and has advised budding entrepreneurs that businessmen must do more than give‍—‌they "should participate in solving problems".[10]

In 2019, Forbes put Slim in the list of the world's most generous philanthropists outside of the US.[97]

Fundación Carlos Slim

[edit]

Established in 1986, Fundación Carlos Slim sponsors the Museo Soumaya in Mexico City, named after Slim's late wife, Soumaya Domit, opened 2011. It holds 66,000 pieces, including religious relics, contains the world's second-largest collection of Rodin sculptures, including The Kiss, the largest Salvador Dalí collection in Latin America, works by Leonardo da Vinci, Pablo Picasso, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and coins from the viceroys of Spain.[98] The inauguration in 2011 was attended by the President of Mexico, Nobel Prize laureates, writers and other celebrities.[99]

After stating that he had donated US$4 billion of dividends to Fundación Carlos Slim, US$2 billion in 2006, and another US$2 billion in 2010, Slim was ranked fifth in Forbes' World's Biggest Givers in May 2011.[96] Education and health care projects have included $100 million to perform 50,000 cataract surgeries in Peru.[96]

Fundación Telmex

[edit]

In 1995, Slim established Fundación Telmex, a broad-ranging philanthropic foundation, which as he announced in 2007 had been provided with an asset base of US$4 billion to establish Carso Institutes for Health, Sports and Education. Furthermore, it was to work in support of an initiative of Bill Clinton to aid the people of Latin America.[21][96] The foundation has organized Copa Telmex, an amateur sports tournament, recognized in 2007 and 2008 by Guinness World Records as having the most participants of any such tournament in the world. Together with Fundación Carlos Slim Helú, Telmex announced in 2008 that it was to invest more than US$250 million in Mexican sports programs, from grass-roots level to Olympic standard.[21] Telmex sponsored the Sauber F1 team for the 2011 season.[100] [101] Telmex donated at least $1 million to the Clinton Foundation.[102]

Fundación del Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de México A.C.

[edit]

Slim has been Chair of the Council for the Restoration of the Historic Downtown of Mexico City since 2001.[103]

In 2011, he, along with the president of Mexico, Mexico City mayor, and Mexico City archbishop, inaugurated the first phase of Plaza Mariana close to Basilica de Guadalupe.[104] The complex, whose construction was funded by Slim, includes an evangelization center, museum, columbarium, health center, and market.[105]

Awards

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Carlos Slim | 30 pronunciations of Carlos Slim in Spanish".
  2. ^ a b c d e "Where Does Carlos Slim Keep His Money?". Adam Hayes. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  3. ^ a b c "Carlos Slim's growing involvement in the oil and gas industry". oilandgasmexico.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "Carlos Slim Helu & family". Forbes. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "THE MOBILE MEXICAN MAGNATE: HOW CARLOS SLIM HELU GOT HIS START". EvanCarMichael. Archived from the original on 12 April 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  6. ^ a b c d Jan-Albert Hootsen (23 June 2014). "Can You Buy Anything in Mexico Without Paying Carlos Slim?". Vocativ. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  7. ^ a b "Bloomberg Billionaires Index: Carlos Slim". Bloomberg. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  8. ^ a b c d e f TONY CLARKE; SABRINA FERNANDES; RICHARD GIRARD. "UNCLE SLIM: THE WORLD'S RICHEST MAN" (PDF). Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  9. ^ Kalyan Parbat (29 May 2015). "Why Mexican Billionaire Carlos Slim Made a Secret Visit to India". India West. Archived from the original on 8 October 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h Sean Braswell (6 August 2015). "Carlos Slim's Worldwide Portfolio". Archived from the original on 8 August 2022. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  11. ^ "Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim sells off half of NY Times shares". 20 December 2017.
  12. ^ Carlos Slim biography Archived 24 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine. carlosslim.com. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  13. ^ a b Bone, James (11 March 2010). "Mexican mogul Carlos Slim got his big break in sell-off of national telephone firm". The Times. London. Retrieved 17 June 2011.(subscription required)
  14. ^ Padgett, Tim (11 July 2007). "Carlos Slim's Embarrassment of Riches". Time. United States. Archived from the original on 13 July 2007. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  15. ^ "mexicodiplomatico.org" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 July 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  16. ^ a b "Carlos Slim Interview". Academy of Achievement. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  17. ^ a b c d e Harriet Alexander (19 February 2011). "Carlos Slim: At home with the world's richest man". The Telegraph. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  18. ^ "Mexico's Richest Man". Forbes. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  19. ^ a b c d "History of Grupo Carso". Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  20. ^ Dolan, Kerry (26 March 2012). "The World According To Slim". Forbes. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "Biography". Carlos Slim Helú. Archived from the original on 24 August 2011. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  22. ^ a b c d "Biography". Archived from the original on 24 August 2011. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  23. ^ a b c d e "Carlos Slim". Academy of Achievement. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  24. ^ Lauren Welch (5 April 2015). "What Education Do You Need To Become A Billionaire?". Investopedia. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  25. ^ Wai, Jonathan (28 July 2014). "If you want to be rich and powerful, majoring in STEM is a good place to start". Quartz. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  26. ^ a b "US Inflation Calculator". US Inflation Calculator. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  27. ^ a b c Jonathan Kandell. "Yo Quiero Todo Bell". Wired. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  28. ^ "Profile: Carlos Slim". BBC News. 10 March 2010. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
  29. ^ "CNN LARRY KING LIVE". CNN. 3 December 2010. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  30. ^ a b c Dolia Estevez. "Billionaire Carlos Slim Listing Fifth Ave Mansion For $80 Million, Almost Two Times What He Paid". Forbes. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  31. ^ a b "Mexico's Carlos Slim Buys 8.4% Stake in Argentina's YPF". Global Energy Profs. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  32. ^ a b c Jesse Emspak. "How Carlos Slim Built His Fortune". Investopedia. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  33. ^ Helen Coster (16 March 2007). "Mexico's Richest Man". Forbes. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  34. ^ DAVID HENDRICKS (18 November 2008). "Carlos Slim offers tips for making most of downturn". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  35. ^ a b c Thompson, Ginger (3 June 2006). "Prodded by the Left, Mexico's Richest Man Talks Equity". The New York Times.
  36. ^ a b c Chua, Amy (2003). World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability. Knopf Doubleday Publishing. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-385-72186-8.
  37. ^ Chua, Amy (2004). World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability. Knopf Doubleday Publishing. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-385-72186-8.
  38. ^ Adriana Arai. "Carlos Slim Moves From Telecommunications Into Real Estate". Banderas News. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  39. ^ "End of the Line for CompUSA". San Francisco Chronicle. 9 December 2007. Retrieved 9 December 2007.
  40. ^ "Telvista - Call Center Locations". telvista.com. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  41. ^ Schumpeter: The global Mexican. The Economist (27 October 2012). Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  42. ^ a b Laya, Patricia; Smith, Gerry (14 January 2015). "Billionaire Carlos Slim Doubles Holdings in New York Times". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  43. ^ "Carlos Slim becomes top New York Times shareholder". Reuters. 14 January 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  44. ^ "The New York Times Company Notice of 2016 Annual Meeting and Proxy Statement" (PDF). The New York Times Company. 22 March 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  45. ^ "Carlos Slim Purchase Mexican Soccer Teams Sets Showdown With Television Giant". Fox News. Retrieved 11 May 2015.[dead link‍]
  46. ^ Carlson, Erin (12 March 2012). "Larry King to Launch Interview Show on Ora.tv". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  47. ^ "Can You Buy Anything in Mexico Without Paying Carlos Slim?". vocativ.com. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  48. ^ "Carlos Slim buys stake in Mexican soccer teams, television rights  - FOX Sports on MSN". FOX Soccer.
  49. ^ a b Omar Morales (24 April 2015). "Is This Mexico's Most Powerful Man in Music?". Billboard. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  50. ^ Kincaid, Jason (22 June 2011). "Shazam Raises A Huge Round to the Tune of $32 Million". TechCrunch. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
  51. ^ Glenn Peoples (7 July 2013). "Shazam Gets $40 Million Investment from Carlos Slim's America Movil". Billboard. Archived from the original on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  52. ^ "UPDATE 1-Carlos Slim private equity fund sells stake in pharma company". Reuters. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  53. ^ Georgina Prodhan; Angelika Gruber (24 April 2014). "Slim seeks to build Telekom Austria into European player". Reuters. Archived from the original on 24 April 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2014. " There came a point where we felt there was just not very much more to be done in terms of expansion in the Americas", Garcia Moreno told a news conference in Vienna
  54. ^ "Carlos Slim dives into ailing Spanish economy, takes over troubled companies". Fox News Latino. 10 March 2015. Archived from the original on 22 March 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  55. ^ Marino, Jonathan (25 July 2015). "One of the richest men in the world is backing a startup that ranks Wall Street's hedge funds". Business Insider. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
  56. ^ Mersinoglu, Yasemin Craggs. "Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim takes 3% stake in BT". Financial Times. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  57. ^ "Family tree of Julián Slim Haddad". Geneanet. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  58. ^ "Fallece el empresario Julián Slim Helú". Expansión. 18 February 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  59. ^ "Fallece el empresario Julián Slim Helú, hermano de Carlos Slim". Excélsior. 18 February 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  60. ^ Alexander, Harriet (19 February 2011). "Carlos Slim: At home with the world's richest man". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
  61. ^ "La trágica historia de amor de Carlos Slim, el hombre más rico de México". Clase (in Spanish). 24 July 2017. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  62. ^ Estevez, Dolia (19 November 2013). "Mexican Billionaire Carlos Slim Is Quietly Transferring Assets To His Children". Forbes. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  63. ^ Allentuck, Andrew (March 2009). "Carlos Slim Helu". Trade by Numbers. globeinvestor.com. Archived from the original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
  64. ^ Lacey, Marc (12 May 2012). "A Priest's Legacy Survives, and Divides, in Mexico". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  65. ^ Berry, Jason (8 February 2016). "Francis heads to Mexico amid Legionaries of Christ disclosures". National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  66. ^ Coster, Helen (11 April 2007). "Carlos Slim Helu Now World's Second-Richest Man". Forbes. Archived from the original on 28 September 2008. Retrieved 11 August 2007.
  67. ^ a b c Luhnow, David (4 August 2007). "The Secrets of the World's Richest Man". The Wall Street Journal. p. A1. Retrieved 4 August 2007.
  68. ^ Mehta, Stephanie (6 August 2007). "Carlos Slim, the richest man in the world". Fortune. Retrieved 6 August 2007.
  69. ^ "Mexican overtakes Bill Gates as world's wealthiest man". Bild. 11 March 2010. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
  70. ^ "Rich list signals shift in fortunes". Al Jazeera. 11 March 2010. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
  71. ^ "Year's richest man, first from emerging economy, bumps Gates". Deutsche Welle. 11 March 2010. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
  72. ^ "Bloomberg Billionaires Index". Bloomberg LP. Archived from the original on 14 December 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
  73. ^ "Bill Gates Retakes World's Richest Title From Carlos Slim", by Alex Cuadros and Crayton Harrison, Bloomberg L.P. online at Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved 16 May 2013. Archived 17 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  74. ^ "Mexico's Carlos Slim Reclaims World's Richest Man Title From Bill Gates". Forbes. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  75. ^ "Forbes 2017: World's top 20 billionaires". 27 October 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  76. ^ Warren, Katie. "Carlos Slim, owner of Sears Mexico, lives a surprisingly frugal life for a billionaire. Take a look at the life of Mexico's richest man, who's lived in the same house for 40 years". Business Insider. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  77. ^ "Carlos Slim Helu & family". Forbes. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  78. ^ "Carlos Slim Helu & family". Forbes. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  79. ^ Shawn Baldwin (23 August 2014). "Carlos Slim Generates Billions of Value Creation in Telecom". Fast Company.
  80. ^ "Slim Spending $1.4 Billion on Complex in Mexico City". Latin American Herald Tribune. 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  81. ^ Andrea Divirgilio (5 August 2011). "The real estate trend with billionaires is investing in U.S. property market". Born Rich.com. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013.
  82. ^ Fiona Maharg-Bravo (5 March 2015). "Carlos Slim buys Spanish real estate on the cheap". Archived from the original on 8 March 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  83. ^ "UN HDI table" (PDF). United Nations. 2008. Retrieved 27 May 2009.
  84. ^ a b Coster, Helen (11 April 2007). "Carlos Slim Helu Now World's Second-Richest Man". Forbes. Retrieved 27 May 2009.
  85. ^ Smith, Geri (5 March 2007). "Slim's Big Giveaway: As the government steps up its scrutiny, the billionaire is stepping up his philanthropy". Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Archived from the original on 17 October 2010. Retrieved 27 May 2009.
  86. ^ Porras, Andy (13 July 2007). "Mexico's wealthiest mogul spurs controversy". Hispanic Link. Archived from the original on 15 March 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2009.
  87. ^ Dolia Estevez (13 September 2013). "Dutch Government Issues Warning on Takeover of Telecom Firm KPN By Mexican Billionaire Carlos Slim". Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  88. ^ Elco Van Groningen (20 May 2015). "America Movil Moves to Cut KPN Stake With Convertible Bond". Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg Business. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  89. ^ Finance. "Carlos Slim Positions Himself to Benefit from the End to Pemex's Monopoly". OilPrice.com. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  90. ^ Dolia Estevez (11 July 2013). "Mexican Tycoon Carlos Slim Poised To Take Advantage Of Mexico's Announced Oil Reform". Forbes.
  91. ^ Crayton Harrison (23 February 2011). "Carlos Slim Expands Oil Investments With Colombia Stake". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  92. ^ "Pemex Hires Carlos Slim's Rig for $415 Mln". Offshore Energy. 8 May 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  93. ^ "In attacking billionaire Carlos Slim, Trump invokes Mexico, Again". NBC News. 14 October 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  94. ^ Halper, Evan. "Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim was a Trump nemesis. Now the president-elect says he's 'wonderful'". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 11 August 2021. [dead link‍]
  95. ^ "Mexican Billionaire Carlos Slim Won't Join Warren Buffett's 'Giving Pledge'". CNBC. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  96. ^ a b c d Kerry A. Dolan (2 May 2011). "Mexico's Carlos Slim Joins Ranks of World's Biggest Philanthropists". Forbes. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  97. ^ Çam, Deniz. "From Azim Premji to Carlos Slim: The World's Most Generous Billionaires Outside Of The U.S." Forbes. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  98. ^ Casey, Nicholas (3 March 2011). "Emperor's New Museum". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  99. ^ "Slim: el Museo Soumaya Plaza Carso, para acercar el arte a quienes no pueden viajar" (in Spanish). 2 March 2011.
  100. ^ "F1: Sauber Signs Perez, Sponsor Telmex For 2011". speedtv.com. 4 October 2010. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  101. ^ Baldwin, Alan (4 October 2010). "Motor racing-Mexico's Perez to race for Sauber". Reuters. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  102. ^ "Hillary Clinton Follows Christie to Mexico for Carlos Slim Event". Bloomberg. 3 September 2014.
  103. ^ "Fundación Centro Histórico". fundacioncentrohistorico.com.mx.
  104. ^ "Inauguration of Marian Plaza in the Basilica of Guadeloupe - Mexico". Demotix. Archived from the original on 2 July 2012.
  105. ^ Description of Plaza Mariana (Spanish) Archived 14 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  106. ^ "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement". www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement.
  107. ^ "10.12.11 – Galas, Appeals, and Children's Rights". New York Social Diary. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  108. ^ Honorary Doctorate in Public Service by George Washington University Archived 3 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  109. ^ "Sophia Award for Excellence Luncheon". Queen Sophia Spanish Institute. New York. 19 March 2020. Archived from the original on 11 January 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
[edit]
Honorary titles
Preceded by World's richest person
2010 – 2013 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Carlos_Slim&oldid=1258830609"