Carlos Slim
Mexican telecommunications magnate Carlos Slim Helu’s personal wealth has quietly surpassed that of Bill Gates , topped the throne of the richest man in the world. His total assets have reached US$67.8 billion, equivalent to approximately 7% of Mexico's annual economic output.
Slim Helou is a Lebanese immigrant who is 67 years old this year. His business started in a small warehouse in Mexico City. His business empire now includes a budget airline, a cigar company, a music retail business and an Internet content provider. His most successful investment was taking control of Telmex, a Mexican telecommunications operator, in 1990 when the country's telecommunications industry was opened to the private sector. Telmex now controls nine of Mexico's 10 overland routes.
Slim Helu has always been cautious with his money. He told the media that he had been keeping accounts since he was 12 years old. However, Slim Helu recently said that in order to improve health care and education in Mexico, he will establish a charitable foundation and plans to invest US$10 billion in four years. However, he made it clear that he would not give up management of the company. He said that wealth is like an orchard. You can share the fruits with others, but you cannot give the orchard away
The rise of privatization
When he was 11 years old, Carlos made the first decision in his life Investment - buying government savings bonds, and understanding what compound interest rates are. His father, Julian Slim, was his business mentor. Relying on the rich inheritance left by his father after his death, Carlos had earned $400,000 by buying stocks by the time he graduated from college in 1965.
After graduating from the Civil Engineering Department of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Carlos invested extensively in the business world, including mining, manufacturing, paper and tobacco industries. Opportunity always favors those who are prepared. When Mexico encountered an economic crisis in 1982, Carlos took the opportunity to buy up the stocks of many outstanding local companies that had been abandoned by foreign capital at relatively low prices, and gradually turned them around from losses to profits, and the industrial empire expanded rapidly.
However, what really pushed Carlos to the status of the richest man in Mexico and even Latin America was the wave of privatization of Mexican state-owned enterprises in the 1990s. Carlos organized a consortium to buy the Mexican Telephone Company from the Mexican government for US$17.6 million, and he himself had a controlling stake in the telephone company. He invested US$10 billion in five years to update equipment, and now the company has dramatically increased in value to US$20 billion, accounting for 40% of the total capital of the Mexican Stock Exchange. America Mobile, which he controls, has 40 million users and is the most important mobile communications provider in Latin America.
The rich created by monopoly
Today in Mexico, at least 90% of the telecommunications market is monopolized by Carlos; the companies where middle-class consumers are accustomed to shopping and dining are owned by him; Mexican infrastructure The steel used in the construction was produced by his company, and he also provided the loan funds; when traveling far away, there is Elu Airlines; Mexicans also buy insurance from the group; to access the Internet, they need to use the network access service provided by Carlos Company; card Loews' stocks account for half of the Mexican stock market...
His vast industrial empire includes telecommunications, tobacco, Internet services, insurance, banks, shopping malls, restaurants, video stores, auto parts, electronics, and steel The cement industry and even airlines. George Grayson, an expert on Mexican issues at the College of William and Mary in the United States, said: "Carlos' industry is literally covered from the cradle to the grave. Mexico is like a 'Kingdom of Carlos', he is everywhere." At the fourth World Water Forum last year At the meeting, Carlos expressed his readiness to start getting involved in the field of water resources investment.
Doing good while living rich has been questioned
Although he believes that the poverty problem cannot be solved by donations, “compared to spreading money around like Santa Claus, business can bring more to society. benefits.” But he is still passionate about philanthropy. In 2000, after undergoing heart surgery, Carlos handed over the day-to-day work of the company to his son, while he devoted more time to charity.
Carlos has donated 95,000 bicycles and 70,000 pairs of glasses to poor children in Mexico, and provided scholarships to 150,000 college students. Even the labor unions have sided with him. Carlos announced that he would donate US$10 billion in the next four years to develop health and education in Mexico. He will invest a lot of money to establish three charities to help poor people in Mexico receive education, medical security and daily entertainment.
However, monopoly and charity are always controversial topics. Some people think that his charity is to beautify the image of his monopoly giant: "Carlos may be spreading wealth, but he will also do his best to protect the monopoly."
After all, because of the monopoly, Carlos can independently set fixed-line charging standards that are higher than those of any other developed country. It can also "rob" 72% of Mexico's mobile phone customers through America Mobile, excluding foreign competitors. He said: "AT&T and WorldCom want us to hand over market share. They have a beautiful idea!"
People think that instead of donating to society, it is better to lower the price of some services to make it more affordable and use monopoly The profits gained were much greater than the money donated. People question that the gap between his wealth and the fact that most Mexicans don’t even have enough to eat, and 30 million Mexicans live on less than two dollars a day, is the best manifestation of the social contradictions in Mexico due to the huge gap between the rich and the poor and the lack of a competition mechanism. .
From a "patent owner" who loves cigars
To a "spokesperson" for ordinary people?
Currently, in addition to immersing himself in the hobby of art appreciation, Heru accepted the invitation from the Mexican left and funded the establishment of a committee to oversee the plan for the revitalization of historical sites in the center of Mexico City. He is also active in Most areas of Mexican life: from politics to educational charities to the restoration of historic buildings and more. Some public opinion said that Helu was abandoning business and entering politics. But Helu said he had no political ambitions and had no secrets from the party.
In September last year, at the initiative of Helu, the leaders of various Mexican parties, business leaders and non-governmental workers signed the "Chapu de Picco Convention" in the small town of Chapu de Picco. Agreement, which is a plan aimed at stimulating economic development in Mexico through public-private sector cooperation, thereby promoting economic growth and investment in poor people in Mexico. Facing the upcoming Mexican presidential election on July 2, Helu publicly stated that he would create more equal employment and educational opportunities for Mexico. Helu said: "What we need is investment, education, economic growth and employment. In today's world, health and education can better reflect fair opportunities than any other undertaking." It is reported that for the development and progress of Latin America, Helu Lu has traveled to all corners of Latin America, hoping to direct investment where it is needed most.
Heru’s support for “left-wing trends” is attracting attention from the Mexican media. From a "patent owner" with a taste for high-end cigars to a "spokesperson" eager to become a spokesperson for ordinary people, Helu is completing the transformation of his "soul". According to the media, Helu’s recent “poor man’s route” is to take advantage of the “gap” between the rich and poor in Latin America to win the trust of favored “left-wing” leaders and further expand his business power.