Carlos Slim Helu - World's Richest Man?

[lambigit]

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so its not impossible that maybe next time a filipino will be the richest man in the universe....hahaha.. keep on dreaming...

[yokam]

is Mexico a third world country?

if it is...

that's ironic!

Maybe he just worked his way to the top. Nothing is really impossible.

[omad]

talking about charities, Slim is also a philantrophist with billions donated to the needy in his country:
In March, when Forbes ranked the Mexican as the second richest man on Earth, Slim announced he would be increasing his donations to charity from $4bn to $10bn in the next four years.

but I'm not sure how giving to charities relate to tax-breaks in Mexico though..

this guy is also likeable, humble in his own way:
Unlike some of the other mega wealthy Mexican families, whose gaudy mansions and partying children fill the society gossip magazines, neither Slim nor his three sons and son-in-law - who have all joined the family firm - are known for extravagance or scandal.

here's the numbers:
$63bn Carlos Slim's personal fortune puts him nearly $4bn ahead of Bill Gates

$2.7m The amount by which Mr Slim's wealth grows every hour

Slim's business interests include:
Teléfonos de Mexico (Telmex): biggest fixed line telecoms company in Mexico. 90% of fixed line market. Slim has 43%.
Prodigy: most important internet service provider in Mexico. Slim has 33%.
América Móvil: biggest mobile company in Latin America. Includes Mexican company Telcel with 70% of Mexican users' phones. Carlos Slim has 30% of the company.
Grupo Financiero Inbursa: Mexican bank. Slim holds 71%
Grupo Carso: diverse holding company includes Sanborns restaurants, Sears department stores, Porcelanite ceramic tiles, Mixup music outlet, Cigatem tobacco company and much more. Slim holds 77%
Impulsora del Desarrollo y el Empleo en América Latina (Ideal): - Construction company Slim holds 43%.
CompUSA: Texas-based consumer electronics retailer. Slim holds 50%

· Source: Sentido Comun

link

[tagur0]

kani si carlos slim, dili man gud ni cya mo tuo ug donations ug charities, he keeps them all by himself raman gud ug sa iyang mga generations unlike gates ug uban pa, mga philantrophist na ba, ilang gihatag gamay sa ilang part para ma benifit gamay ang part sa humanity.

kugihan lang sad gyud na cya mangita ug kwarta.

[vern]

Seriously, when you have that much money, do you really care if you are 1 or 2?

[yokam]

kani si carlos slim, dili man gud ni cya mo tuo ug donations ug charities, he keeps them all by himself raman gud ug sa iyang mga generations unlike gates ug uban pa, mga philantrophist na ba, ilang gihatag gamay sa ilang part para ma benifit gamay ang part sa humanity.

kugihan lang sad gyud na cya mangita ug kwarta.

He's a noted philanthropist.

In the year 2000, Carlos Slim Helu organized the Fundación del Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de México A.C. (Mexico City Historic Downtown Foundation), whose objective is to revitalize and rescue Mexico City's historic downtown, for more people to live, work and find entertainment in this area. He is Chairman of the Executive Committee for the Restoration of the Historic Center since the year 2001.

He even heads the Latin America Development Fund project.

Critics did claim that he's a monopolist. His company, Telmex, is noted to control 90% of Mexico's landline telephone market. Slim's wealth is equal to roughly 7% of Mexico's annual economic output.

For the record, in surpassing Gates, Slim's wealth increased by $18 billion in just 24 months.

[omad]

here's the latest update:
__________________________________________________ _________________________________________
Carlos Slim, the richest man in the world

FORTUNE Magazine
By Stephanie N. Mehta, Fortune senior writer
August 6 2007: 2:53 PM EDT

The son of a Mexico City shopkeeper has built a staggering $59 billion fortune. Fortune's Stephanie Mehta tells the inside story of how he made it to the top.

(Fortune Magazine) -- I remember there was a time when the value of his enterprises was very low," recalls Patrick, the youngest son of Carlos Slim Helú. It was the early 1980s, and Mexico was in the depths of a massive financial crisis. Periodically the elder Slim would round up his three teenage sons for an economics lesson. Sitting them down in the living room of the family home, Slim would produce a single handwritten list. One line would show, for instance, how a Mexican insurance company was selling for far less than a similar American insurer. Another would show that compared with European candy or cigarette makers, Mexican manufacturers were drastically undervalued. "It was a very, very long time ago," says Patrick, "but I absolutely remember him teaching us at an early age."

For Slim, a onetime math instructor, this was no mere academic exercise. Yes, he wanted to instill in his sons the same lesson his father - a Lebanese immigrant who started acquiring real estate in Mexico City during the Revolution of 1910 - taught him: Though Mexico will have its ups and downs, don't ever count the country out. But Slim wasn't just teaching, he was buying. He spent $55 million on an insurance company. He took a stake in retailer Sanborns. He invested in a hotel chain.

Now those early investments are paying off big time. His three heirs - Carlos Jr., 40; Marco Antonio, 39; and Patrick, 38, run day-to-day operations at various Slim businesses and are increasingly making strategic decisions, while their father, who had heart surgery in 1997, pulls back. And Slim's investments in downtrodden Mexico? They laid the foundations of a sprawling, $150 billion business empire whose growth in recent months has turned Carlos Slim Helú into the world's richest man.

Anyone expecting to find monuments to the Slim financial empire in Mexico City - a gleaming TelMex tower jutting out of the skyline or an América Móvil stadium - would leave disappointed. In fact, América Móvil, Latin America's largest provider of wireless services, is housed in a converted tire factory. The juxtaposition of austerity and wealth can be quite odd, as evidenced by a recent visit to the headquarters of Inbursa, Slim's financial business. Just beyond the lobby is a makeshift art gallery that features a rotating selection of paintings on loan from the Museo Soumaya, a Slim-financed fine-arts museum named after his wife, who died in 1999. The room is a bit shabby. It is poorly lit and smells faintly of cigarettes; several large crates are propped against one of the walls. "We had several El Grecos here," Arturo Elias Ayub, Slim's son-in-law and spokesman, says matter-of-factly. There's also a folding table in the center of the room. "Mr. Slim sometimes likes to eat his lunch here," Elias adds.

The famous Slim thrift - he used to show up for business meetings wearing a cheap calculator watch - extends across the entire company. Years ago he wrote "official principles" for Grupo Carso, his industrial conglomerate, which are distributed annually to all employees. One tenet translates into English as follows: "Maintain austerity in prosperous times (in times when the cow is fat with milk); it accelerates corporate development and avoids the need for drastic change in times of crisis." So, for example, TelMex's net debt equals Ebitda, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, a statistic that's unheard-of in its industry, where debt is typically three times cash flow. América Móvil actually has less debt than Ebitda. "They're rabid about costs," says New York-based Citi investment research analyst Patrick Grenham. "They borrow as little as possible and very carefully."

CNNMoney

[ej___]

Seriously, when you have that much money, do you really care if you are 1 or 2?

Bitaw bro noh? Hinoon, unless he sets his mind on beating #1. :mrgreen:

[omad]

^ those guys only care about how to increase their fortunes and being no. 1 or 2 is just icing on the cake.

[khaliver]

cool.. di na si Bill Gates!