Carlos Slim Helú (; born 28 January 1940) is a Mexican
business magnate
A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...
, investor, and philanthropist.
From 2010 to 2013, Slim was ranked as the
richest person in the world
By nationality
* List of Argentines by net worth
* List of Americans by net worth
**List of richest Americans in history
* List of Australians by net worth
** ''Financial Review'' Rich List
* List of Austrians by net worth
* List of Belgians by ...
by the ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'' business magazine.
He derived his fortune from his extensive holdings in a considerable number of Mexican companies through his
conglomerate
Conglomerate or conglomeration may refer to:
* Conglomerate (company)
* Conglomerate (geology)
* Conglomerate (mathematics)
In popular culture:
* The Conglomerate (American group), a production crew and musical group founded by Busta Rhymes
** Co ...
,
Grupo Carso.
As of November 2022, ''
Bloomberg Billionaires Index
The ''Bloomberg Billionaires Index'', launched in March 2012, is a daily ranking of the world's 500 richest people based on their net worth. It draws information from "action in the stock market, economic indicators and news reports", features a p ...
'' ranked him as the 11th-richest person in the world with a net worth of $78 billion,
making him the richest person in
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...
.
Slim's corporate conglomerate spans numerous industries across the Mexican economy, of which includes education, health care, industrial manufacturing, transportation, real estate, mass media, energy, hospitality, entertainment, high-technology, retail, sports and financial services.
He accounts for 40% of the listings on the
Mexican Stock Exchange,
while his net worth is equivalent to about 6% of Mexico's gross domestic product.
As of 2016, he is the largest single shareholder of
The New York Times Company
The New York Times Company is an American mass media company that publishes ''The New York Times''. Its headquarters are in Manhattan, New York City.
History
The company was founded by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones in New York City. ...
.
Early life
Slim was born on 28 January 1940, in
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of ...
, to Julián Slim Haddad (born Khalil Salim Haddad Aglamaz) and Linda Helú Atta, both
Maronite
The Maronites ( ar, الموارنة; syr, ܡܖ̈ܘܢܝܐ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant region of the Middle East, whose members traditionally belong to the Maronite Church, with the largest ...
Christians from
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
.
He decided at a young age that he wanted to be a businessman,
and received business lessons from his father, who taught him finance, management and accounting, teaching him how to analyze, interpret, and read
financial statement
Financial statements (or financial reports) are formal records of the financial activities and position of a business, person, or other entity.
Relevant financial information is presented in a structured manner and in a form which is easy to un ...
s as well as the importance of keeping accurate financial records.
At the age of 11, Slim invested in a government savings bond, which taught him about the concept of
compound interest. He eventually saved every financial and business transaction he made into a personal ledger book, which he still keeps.
At the age of 12, he made his first stock purchase, by buying shares of a Mexican bank.
By the age of 15, Slim had become a shareholder in Mexico's largest bank.
At the age of 17, he earned 200 pesos a week working for his father's company. He went on to study civil engineering at the
National Autonomous University of Mexico
The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigge ...
, where he also concurrently taught
algebra
Algebra () is one of the areas of mathematics, broad areas of mathematics. Roughly speaking, algebra is the study of mathematical symbols and the rules for manipulating these symbols in formulas; it is a unifying thread of almost all of mathem ...
and
linear programming
Linear programming (LP), also called linear optimization, is a method to achieve the best outcome (such as maximum profit or lowest cost) in a mathematical model whose requirements are represented by linear relationships. Linear programming is ...
.
Though Slim was a civil engineering major, he displayed an interest in economics. He took economics courses in
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...
when he completed his engineering degree.
Graduating as a civil engineering major, Slim has stated that his mathematical ability and his background of
linear programming
Linear programming (LP), also called linear optimization, is a method to achieve the best outcome (such as maximum profit or lowest cost) in a mathematical model whose requirements are represented by linear relationships. Linear programming is ...
was a key factor in helping him gain an edge in the business world, especially when analyzing the financial statements of
prospective
Prospective refers to an event that is likely or expected to happen in the future. For example, a ''prospective student'' is someone who is considering attending a school. A prospective cohort study is a type of study, e.g., in sociology or medic ...
companies when making business decisions and potential investment acquisitions.
Business career
1960s
After graduating from university in 1961, Slim began his business career as a
stock trader in Mexico, often working 14-hour days.
In 1965, profits from Slim's private investments reached ,
enabling him to start the stock brokerage house Inversora Bursátil.
He also began laying the financial groundwork for his eventual conglomerate, Grupo Carso.
In 1965, he also acquired
Jarritos del Sur, a Mexican bottling and soft drink company. In 1966, worth ,
he established Inmuebles Carso, a real estate agency and holding company.
1970s
Companies in the construction, soft drink, printing, real estate, bottling and mining industries were the initial focus of Slim's burgeoning business career.
He later expanded his 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
Financial services are the economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, accountancy companie ...
(Slim's
Grupo Financiero Inbursa
Inbursa is a financial company which, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and related services in Mexico. The company operates business lines in investment funds, general insurance, automobile insurance, mortgages, health insurance, retire ...
sells insurance and manages mutual funds and pension plans for millions of ordinary Mexicans).
By 1972, he had established or acquired a further seven businesses in these categories, including a construction equipment rental company. In 1980, he consolidated his business interests by forming Grupo Galas as the
parent company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
of a conglomerate that had interests in
industrial manufacturing,
construction
Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and ...
,
mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...
,
retail
Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and th ...
, food, and
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ch ...
.
1980s
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
Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort.
In finance, the purpose of investing i ...
heavily and
acquired many Mexican flagship businesses at depressed valuations.
Much of Slim's business dealings involved a simple strategy, which entails buying a business and retaining it for its
cash flow
A cash flow is a real or virtual movement of money:
*a cash flow in its narrow sense is a payment (in a currency), especially from one central bank account to another; the term 'cash flow' is mostly used to describe payments that are expected ...
, or eventually selling the
stake
Stake may refer to:
Entertainment
* '' Stake: Fortune Fighters'', a 2003 video game
* ''The Stake'', a 1915 silent short film
* "The Stake", a 1977 song by The Steve Miller Band from '' Book of Dreams''
* ''Stakes'' (miniseries), a Cartoon Netw ...
at a greater profit in future, thereby netting the
capital gain
Capital gain is an economic concept defined as the profit earned on the sale of an asset which has increased in value over the holding period. An asset may include tangible property, a car, a business, or intangible property such as shares ...
s as well as reinvesting the initial
principal into a new business.
In addition, Grupo Carso's corporate conglomerate structure allows Slim to purchase numerous 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 do not fare well.
Amidst the Mexican economic downturn before its 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 at significant discounts, including 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. Slim spent to acquire the Mexican insurance agency Seguros de México in 1984, and later subsumed the company into the firm, Seguros Inbursa.
The value of his stake in Seguros eventually became worth by 2007, after four spinoffs. He also acquired a 40% and 50% interest in the Mexican arms of
British American Tobacco
British American Tobacco plc (BAT) is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products. The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London, England. As of 2019, it is the larg ...
and
The Hershey Company
The Hershey Company, commonly known as Hershey's, is an American multinational company and one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the world. It also manufactures baked products, such as cookies and cakes, and sells beverages like milksh ...
, 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
Inbursa is a financial company which, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and related services in Mexico. The company operates business lines in investment funds, general insurance, automobile insurance, mortgages, health insurance, retire ...
, a financial services provider. Many of these corporate acquisitions were financed by the revenues and cash flows from Cigatam, a tobacco distributor which he purchased early in during the early 1980s Mexican economic downturn.
In 1988, Slim bought Nacobre, a copper manufacturing company that manufactures, markets and distributes copper and copper alloy products, along with a chemical company, Química Fluor.
1990s
Slim earned windfall profits in the early 1990s when Mexican government began privatizing its telecom industry. With his conglomerate Grupo Carso, he acquired Telmex, a landline telephone operator from the Mexican government.
In 1990, Grupo Carso was floated as a public company initially in Mexico and then worldwide.
Grupo Carso also acquired majority ownership of Porcelanite, a tile making company in 1990.
Later in 1990, Slim acted in concert with
France Télécom
Orange S.A. (), formerly France Télécom S.A. (stylized as france telecom) is a French multinational telecommunications corporation. It has 266 million customers worldwide and employs 89,000 people in France, and 59,000 elsewhere. In 2015, ...
and
Southwestern Bell Corporation
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...
to purchase the landline telecommunications operator
Telmex from the Mexican government, when Mexico began privatizing its national industries.
Slim was an early investment backer in Telmex, as the cash flows and revenues of the company eventually formed the bulk of his private fortune.
By 2006, Telmex controlled and operated 90 percent of the telephone lines in Mexico, and his wireless telecommunications company,
Telcel
Telcel is a Mexican wireless telecommunications company, owned by América Móvil. Founded in 1984 and based in Mexico City, Telcel is the leading provider of wireless communications services in Mexico. As of December 31, 2006, Telcel's cellular ...
, which was created out of the Radiomóvil Dipsa company,
operated almost 80 percent of all the country's cellphones.
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.
In 1996, Slim's conglomerate company Grupo Carso was split into three separate companies: Carso Global Telecom, Grupo Carso, and Invercorporación. In the following year, Slim bought the Mexican arm of
Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began ...
Roebuck.
In 1999, Slim began expanding his business interests beyond Latin America. Though the bulk of his holdings remained in Mexico, he began targeting the United States for foreign investments.
2000s
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
OfficeMax is an American office supplies retailer founded in 1988. It is now a subsidiary of The ODP Corporation, which is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. As of December 2012, OfficeMax operated 941 stores in 47 states, Puerto Rico, the U. ...
,
Office Depot
The ODP Corporation is an American office supply holding company headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. The company has combined annual sales of approximately $11 billion, and employs about 38,000 associates with businesses in the United States. ...
,
Circuit City
Circuit City is an American consumer electronics retail company, which was founded in 1949 by Samuel Wurtzel as the Wards Company, operated stores across the United States, and pioneered the electronics superstore format in the 1970s. After m ...
,
Borders, and
CompUSA.
Much of the rationale behind Slim's international commercial expansion beyond Mexico was due to a running joke in Mexican business circles where "there was nothing left to acquire in Mexico."
He set up 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 construction and engineering firm within Grupo Carso.
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.
América Telecom, the holding company for América Móvil, was incorporated in 2000. Concurrently, Telmex also spun off its international celluar phone division for a $15 billion listing of America Movil SA on the New York Stock Exchange. 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
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...
, and others in
Guatemala and
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechuan ...
. In subsequent years, the company made further investments across Latin America, with companies in
Colombia,
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean Sea, Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to ...
,
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal
, national_motto = "Fi ...
,
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...
,
Honduras, and
El Salvador
El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by ...
, well as a joint venture with the American software house,
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...
called Tlmsn, a Spanish-language web portal.
In 2005 Slim invested in
Volaris, a Mexican airline
and established 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.

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 Phil(l)ip or Phil Morris may refer to:
Companies
*Altria, a conglomerate company previously known as Philip Morris Companies Inc., named after the tobacconist
**Philip Morris USA, a tobacco company wholly owned by Altria Group
**Philip Morris Inter ...
for US$1.1billion. Also 2007, Slim sold his entire stake of tile-maker Porcelanite for US$800million. He licensed the Saks name and opened the Mexican arm of
Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue (originally Saks & Company; colloquially Saks) is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street shopping district of Washing ...
retailer in
Santa Fe, Mexico. During the same year, the estimated value of all of Slim's companies was at US$150billion.
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, although the information technology division of
CompUSA continued under the name Telvista with various U.S. locations in
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
, Texas (U.S. Corporate Office) and
Danville, Virginia
Danville is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States, located in the Southside Virginia region and on the fall line of the Dan River. It was a center of tobacco production and was an area of Confederate activi ...
. Telvista has five centers in Mexico (three in Tijuana, one center in Mexicali, and one in México City). 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
The New York Times Company is an American mass media company that publishes ''The New York Times''. Its headquarters are in Manhattan, New York City.
History
The company was founded by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones (publisher), George ...
, a prominent American newspaper publisher.
Slim increased his stake to 8% by 2012. 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.
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.
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.
2010s
In 2012, Slim sold the broadcast rights for the Leon games to the American terrestrial television network,
Telemundo
Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is owned by Comcast. It provides content nationally with prog ...
, and the cable channel Fox Sports in Mexico and the rest of Latin America and to 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
América Móvil is a Mexican telecommunications corporation headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico. It is the 7th largest mobile network operator in terms of equity subscribers and one of the largest corporations in the world. América Móvil is a ...
acquired the broadcast rights for the
Olympic Games in Sochi 2014 and the
Brazil 2016 for Latin America.
In March 2012, Slim, along with American television host
Larry King
Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger; November 19, 1933 – January 23, 2021) was an American television and radio host, whose awards included 2 Peabodys, an Emmy and 10 Cable ACE Awards. Over his career, he hosted over 50,000 interviews. ...
, 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''.
In September 2012, Slim bought 30% stakes in
Pachuca
Pachuca (; ote, Nju̱nthe), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Hidalgo. It is located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca de Soto is also the name of the municipality of whi ...
and
León, two Mexican soccer teams through his telecommunications company America Movil. In December 2012, he bought all the shares of the second division team
Estudiantes Tecos. Slim has also completed business deals for the television rights to games of the Leon soccer team. His company America Movil purchased 30 percent of the team along with transmission rights as Slim doesn't 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.
In July 2013, Slim's company America Movil invested US$40million in
Shazam
Shazam () may refer to:
Comic book franchise
* Captain Marvel (DC Comics), also known as Shazam, a superhero character published by Fawcett Comics and DC Comics
** Shazam (wizard), a character from the ''Shazam!/Captain Marvel'' comics, who give ...
, a British commercial mobile phone-based music identification service for an undisclosed share of ownership. America Movil partnered with the company to aid its growth into advertising and television and help the audio recognition service expand in Latin America.
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 had 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.
On 23 April 2014, Slim took control of
Telekom Austria
A1 Telekom Austria Group is a provider of a range of fixed-line, broadband Internet, multimedia services, data, and IT systems, wholesale as well as mobile payment services. It is a subsidiary of Mexican telecommunications conglomerate América ...
, 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
A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest.
Etymology
The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French word ''syndica ...
holding structure the Austrian state holding company OIAG's 28% are combined with Slim's 27% ownership. America Movil will spend as much as to buy out minority shareholders in a mandatory
public offer and invest up to 1billion euros () 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 lack of explicit job guarantees.
In January 2015, Grupo Carso publicly launched Claro Musica, an online music service that is a Latin American equivalent of
iTunes and
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
. 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 117-store Mexican retailers Mixup also generated more than in revenue in 2014.
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
Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas, S.A. (), or FCC, is a Spanish construction company based in Barcelona. Until November 2014, over 50 percent of the shares were owned by a company controlled by the daughter of its founder, Esther Koplow ...
, a Spanish construction company where Slim is also an active minor shareholder.
On April 15, 2015, Slim formed oil company Carso Oil & Gas. A report that was released by the new company listed its assets at 3.5billion pesos (approximately ), placed within 17.7million shares. Upon 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.
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 per subscription while hedge fund managers pay half the price and also sign up for a free version of the products the company offers.
Family and personal life
Slim's father, Khalil Salim Haddad Aglamaz, was born on 17 July 1888 in
Jezzine
Jezzine ( ''Jizzīn'') is a town in Lebanon, located from Sidon and south of Beirut. It is the capital of Jezzine District. Surrounded by mountain peaks, pine forests (like the Bkassine Pine Forest), and at an average altitude of 950 m (3 ...
, Lebanon (then
part of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
). In 1902, at the age of 14, Haddad emigrated to Mexico alone, and later changed his name to Julián Slim Haddad.
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
The military of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun silahlı kuvvetleri) was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire.
Army
The military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the ...
, and four of Haddad's older brothers were already living in Mexico at the time of his arrival.
In 1911, Julián established a
dry goods
Dry goods is a historic term describing the type of product line a store carries, which differs by region. The term comes from the textile trade, and the shops appear to have spread with the mercantile trade across the British Empire (and form ...
retail store, La Estrella de Oriente (The Star of the Orient).
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.
By 1922, Julián's net worth reached $1,012,258
pesos, diversified among various assets including real estate, privately-controlled businesses and stocks.
In August 1926, Julián Slim married Linda Helú Atta. Linda, of Lebanese ancestry, was born in
Parral, Chihuahua
Hidalgo del Parral is a city and seat of the municipality of Hidalgo del Parral in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It is located in the southern part of the state, from the state capital, the city of Chihuahua, Chihuahua. As of 2015, the city ...
. 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.
Julian and Linda had six children: Nour, Alma, Julián, José, Carlos, and Linda. Julián senior died in 1953, when Carlos was 13 years old.
Julian's major successful business ventures and investment undertakings became the source of considerable wealth for himself and his family.
As a prominent businessman and wealthy investor who remained a reputable pillar within the Lebanese Mexican community, Julian was known for his business acumen and his knack when making investments during bad economic cycles (which occurred frequently in Mexico).
Julián was known for his business savvy, strong work ethic, and commitment to traditional Lebanese moral values.
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.
Personal life
Carlos Slim was married to Soumaya Domit from 1967 until her death in 1999. Among her interests were various philanthropic projects.
Slim has six children:
Carlos
Carlos may refer to:
Places
;Canada
* Carlos, Alberta, a locality
;United States
* Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community
* Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County
* Carlos, Minnesota, a small city
* Carlos, West Virginia
;Elsewhere ...
, 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.
Slim underwent heart surgery in 1999.
In high school, Slim's favorite subjects were history,
cosmography, and mathematics.
Slim and his wife had a very happy marriage, and he indicated that he does not intend to remarry.
In his office, Slim does not have a computer, and instead keeps all his financial data in hand-written notebooks.
Due to the vast size of his business empire, he often jokes that he cannot keep track of all the companies he manages.
Slim is a
Maronite Catholic, and he is one of the prominent backers of
Legion of Christ
The Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ ( la, Congregatio Legionariorum Christi; abbreviated LC; also Legion of Christ) is a Roman Catholic clerical religious order made up of priests and candidates for the priesthood established by Marci ...
, a
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
religious institute
A religious institute is a type of institute of consecrated life in the Catholic Church whose members take religious vows and lead a life in community with fellow members. Religious institutes are one of the two types of institutes of consecra ...
.
On 25 January 2021, it was reported that Slim had contracted
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...
.
Personal fortune
Wealth
On 29 March 2007, Slim surpassed American investor
Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net w ...
as the world's second richest person with an estimated net worth of compared with Buffett's .
On 4 August 2007, ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' 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
William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...
".
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
Alvin Eugene Toffler (October 4, 1928 – June 27, 2016) was an American writer, futurist, and businessman known for his works discussing modern technologies, including the digital revolution and the communication revolution, with emphasis on t ...
.
On 8 August 2007, ''
Fortune'' magazine reported that Slim had overtaken Gates as the world's richest person. Slim's estimated fortune soared to , based on the value of his public holdings at the end of July. Gates' net worth was estimated to be at least .
On 5 March 2008, ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'' ranked Slim as the world's second-richest person, behind Warren Buffett and ahead of Bill Gates.
On 11 March 2009, ''Forbes'' ranked Slim as the world's third-richest person, behind Gates and Buffett and ahead of
Larry Ellison
Lawrence Joseph Ellison (born August 17, 1944) is an American business magnate and investor who is the co-founder, executive chairman, chief technology officer (CTO) and former chief executive officer (CEO) of the American computer technology ...
.
On 10 March 2010, ''Forbes'' once again reported that Slim had overtaken Gates as the world's richest person, with a net worth of . At the time, Gates and Buffett had a net worth of and respectively.
He was the first Mexican to top the list. It was the first time in 16 years that the person on top of the list was not from the United States. It was also the first time the person at the top of the list was from an emerging economy. Between 2008 and 2010, Slim more than doubled his net worth from $35 to $75 billion.
In March 2011, ''Forbes'' stated that Slim had maintained his position as the wealthiest person in the world, with his fortune estimated at .
In December 2012, according to the ''Bloomberg Billionaires Index'', Carlos Slim Helú remained the world's richest person with an estimated net worth of .
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 .
On 16 May 2013,
Bloomberg L.P. ranked Slim the second-richest person in the world, after Bill Gates.
On July 15 2014, ''Forbes'' announced that Slim had reclaimed the position of the wealthiest person in the world, with a fortune of .
In September 2014, ''Forbes'' listed Slim as number 1 on its
list of billionaires
''The World's Billionaires'' is an annual ranking by documented net worth of the wealthiest billionaires in the world, compiled and published in March annually by the American business magazine ''Forbes''. The list was first published in March ...
with a net worth of .
In December 2016, Slim's net worth was estimated to be US$48.1 billion.
In 2017, his net worth was reported to be $54.5 billion.
In 2019, his net worth was said to be at least $58.1 billion, making him the richest man in Mexico.
In October 2020, his net worth was estimated at $53.7 billion.
In 2021 Forbes stated his net worth as $73.3 billion.
Real estate
Slim is an active real estate investor. His real estate holding company, Inmobiliaria Carso has developed, invested, owned and operated many residential and commercial real estate properties across Mexico since the 1960s. His real estate company constructured
Plaza Carso
Plaza Carso is a large mixed-use development in the Nuevo Polanco area of Miguel Hidalgo, Mexico City, backed by billionaire Carlos Slim. The total cost of the complex is quoted between US$800 million and 1.4 billion. The complex claims to be the ...
in Mexico City, where most of his business ventures share a common headquarters address.
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.
In May 2014, Slim opened Inbursa Aquarium, Latin America's largest aquarium.
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.
In May 2015, he listed the property for sale at $80 million, nearly twice what he had paid.
In April 2015, Slim bought the
Marquette Building in Detroit and purchased PepsiCo Americas Beverages headquarters in Somers, New York, for . Slim owns a second mansion in New York City at
10 West 56th Street
10 West 56th Street (originally the Frederick C. and Birdsall Otis Edey Residence) is a commercial building in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It is along 56th Street's southern sidewalk between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenu ...
, which he bought in 2011 for .
In March 2015, Slim began examining Spain as a potential investment destination, by purchasing cheap properties in Spain's real estate sector at rock-bottom prices in its ailing economy.
Reactions
Slim's growing wealth has been a subject of controversy, because it has been amassed in a
developing country where average per capita income does not surpass a year, and nearly 17% of the population lives in poverty.
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.
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
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries ...
.
According to Celso Garrido, economist at the
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigge ...
, 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.
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". 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 America Movil SAB began offering 2.25billion euros. America Movil now controls a 21.1 percent stake of KPN with a market value of 3.1billion 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.
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
y 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.
In 2016, then Presidential candidate and eventual 45th President of the United States
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...
accused Slim of being involved in editorial articles critical of him published in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' during his
2016 Presidential campaign. The Times responded to these accusations by saying that Slim had never interfered in editorial policy.
Later in 2017, Trump and Slim met in person. Slim spoke quite positively about the meeting.
Philanthropy
Slim has been publicly skeptical of
The Giving Pledge
The Giving Pledge is a campaign to encourage extremely wealthy people to contribute a majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes. , the pledge has 236 signatories from 28 countries. Most of the signatories of the pledge are billionaires, a ...
by
Bill Gates
William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...
and
Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net w ...
giving away at least half of their fortunes. But—according to his spokesman—he devoted , or roughly 5%, to his Carlos Slim foundation as of 2011.
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 givethey "should participate in solving problems".
In 2019, Forbes put Slim in the list of the world's most generous philanthropists outside of the US.
''Fundación Carlos Slim''
Established in 1986, ' 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
Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in ...
collection in Latin America, works by
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially re ...
,
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, he is ...
,
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that " ...
, and coins from the viceroys of Spain. The inauguration in 2011 was attended by the President of Mexico, Nobel Prize laureates, writers and other celebrities.
After stating that he had donated of dividends to ''Fundación Carlos Slim'', in 2006, and another in 2010, Slim was ranked fifth in
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
' World's Biggest Givers in May 2011.
Education and health care projects have included $100 million to perform 50,000 cataract surgeries in Peru.
''Fundación Telmex''
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 to establish ''Carso Institutes for Health, Sports and Education''. Furthermore, it was to work in support of an initiative of
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (Birth name, né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 ...
to aid the people of Latin America.
The foundation has organized Copa Telmex, an amateur sports tournament, recognized in 2007 and 2008 by
Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
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 in Mexican sports programs, from grass-roots level to Olympic standard.
Telmex sponsored the
Sauber F1 team for the 2011 season.
Telmex donated at least $1 million to the
Clinton Foundation
The Clinton Foundation (founded in 2001 as the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, and renamed in 2013 as the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation) is a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code. It was e ...
.
''Fundación del Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de México A.C.''
Slim has been Chair of the Council for the Restoration of the Historic Downtown of Mexico City since 2001.
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.
The complex, whose construction was funded by Slim, includes an
evangelization
In Christianity, evangelism (or witnessing) is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ.
Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are ...
center, museum,
columbarium
A columbarium (; pl. columbaria) is a structure for the reverential and usually public storage of funerary urns, holding cremated remains of the deceased.
The term can also mean the nesting boxes of pigeons. The term comes from the Latin "''col ...
, health center, and market.
[Description of Plaza Mariana (Spanish)]
Awards
* Entrepreneurial Merit Medal of Honor in 1985 from Mexico's
Chamber of Commerce
A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ...
.
* Commander in the
Belgian Order of Leopold II
The Order of Leopold II is an order of Belgium and is named in honor of King Leopold II. The decoration was established on 24 August 1900 by Leopold II as Sovereign of the Congo Free State and was in 1908, upon Congo being handed over to Belgium ...
* Golden Plate Award of the
American Academy of Achievement
The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet o ...
in 1994
* CEO of the year in 2003 by ''
Latin Trade'' magazine
* CEO of the decade in 2004 by ''
Latin Trade'' magazine
* Fundacion Telmex received in 2007 the National Sports Prize of Mexico for sports promotion
* In 2008, his philanthropy was recognized with the award of
The National Order of the Cedar by the Lebanese government.
* In 2011, the
Hispanic Society of America awarded Fundacion Carlos Slim the Sorolla Medal for its contribution to the arts and culture
* On 20 May 2012, Slim was awarded an honorary doctorate in public service from
George Washington University
, mottoeng = "God is Our Trust"
, established =
, type = Private federally chartered research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $2.8 billion (2022)
, presi ...
.
[Honorary Doctorate in Public Service by George Washington University]
* On 21 March 2020, he was awarded the
Queen Sofía Spanish Institute Sophia Award for Excellence at an awards luncheon.
References
External links
*
Carlos Slimat
Bloomberg L.P.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slim, Carlos
1940 births
Businesspeople from Mexico City
Businesspeople in metals
Living people
Mexican billionaires
Mexican businesspeople in retailing
Mexican businesspeople in the oil industry
Mexican chief executives
Mexican company founders
Mexican Eastern Catholics
Mexican expatriates in the United States
Mexican football chairmen and investors
Mexican investors
Mexican Maronites
Mexican mass media owners
Mexican mining businesspeople
Mexican people of Lebanese descent
Mexican philanthropists
Mexican real estate businesspeople
Mexican stock traders
Mexican telecommunications industry businesspeople
Mexican venture capitalists
National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni
People named in the Paradise Papers
Recipients of the National Order of the Cedar
Samsung people
Carlos
Carlos may refer to:
Places
;Canada
* Carlos, Alberta, a locality
;United States
* Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community
* Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County
* Carlos, Minnesota, a small city
* Carlos, West Virginia
;Elsewhere ...
The New York Times people