Carlos Slim Helú, one of Mexico’s and the world’s leading entrepreneurs, turned 80 today.
Slim’s business education started when he was young: his father gave him and his siblings a bank book along with his allowance, as the story is told on carlosslim.com. From then on, Slim saw savings and investment as an integral part of his life and eventually rose to become one of the world’s mightiest business magnates.
Slim ranked 11th on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index at the end of last year, with a fortune valued at US$61.5 billion, to which he added $6.72 billion in the past year.
His realm embraces the telecommunications, infrastructure, energy and building sectors, among others, thanks to such firms in his possession as Telmex-Telnor, the subsidiaries of América Móvil; and the conglomerate Carso which runs such companies as Grupo Sanborns, Carso Infrastructure and Construction (CICSA), Grupo Condumex and Carso Energía.
The market value of his companies added up to $82 billion, a 2.5% jump over the past five-year period, according to Bloomberg.
It isn’t just his astronomical net worth that sets the business magnate apart, but also his proximity to key political figures, among them President López Obrador.
Slim has successfully forged agreements with the current administration, as was the case when his companies IEnova, TC Energía and Grupo Carso renegotiated gas pipeline contracts with the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE).
In addition the businessman has also demonstrated interest in working on infrastructure projects initiated by the current government, such as the National Infrastructure Investment Accord.
The reality is quite different for his telecommunications firms, however, as the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT) has mandated the splitting up of Telmex-Telnor to form a new company, which cannot be subsidized, as a result of measures that were put into effect in 2017.
Another disciplinary action is in store for Telmex on the same basis that could result in a fine of up to 5 billion pesos.
