Carlos Slim Helu born January 28, 1940 is a mexican business magnat and philanthropist who as of 2011 is the richest person in the world for the second year in a row. He is the chairman and chief executive of telecommunications companies Telemex and America Movil and has extensive holdings in other Mexican companies through his Grup Carso SAB as well as business interests elsewhere in the world.
América Móvil, which in 2010 was Latin America largest mobile-phone carrier, accounted for around US$49 billion of Slim's wealth by the end of 2010 His corporate holdings as of March 2011 have been estimated at US$74 billion
Slim was born in Mexico City Mexico in 1940 to Maronite Christian parents Julián Slim Haddad and Linda Helú, both of Lebanese descent .
Slim and his siblings were taught basic business practices by their father, and at the age of 12 Slim bought shares in a Mexican bank. He went on to study engineering at the National Autonomus University of Mexico while simultaneously teaching algebra and linear programming there. In 1965 he incorporated Inversora Bursátil and then bought Jarritos del Sur. In 1966, already worth US$40 million,[6] he founded Inmobiliaria Carso. Three months later he married Soumaya Domit Gemayel (the Carso name derives from the first three letters of Carlo and the first two of Soumaya) and they remained married until her death in 1999
Construction, real estate and mining businesses were the focus of his early career. By 1972 he had established or acquired a further seven businesses in these categories, including one which rented construction equipment. In 1976 he branched out by buying a 60% interest in a printing business and in 1980 he consolidated his business interests by forming Grupo Galas as the parent company of a conglomerate had interests in industry, construction, mining, retail, food and tobacco.
In 1982 the Mexican Economy which had substantially relied on oil exports, contracted rapidly as the price of oil fell and interest rates rose worldwide. Banks and other businesses were nationalised, crippled or collapsed and the peso was devalued At this time, and during the period of recovery to 1985, Slim invested heavily. He bought outright, or a large percentage of, numerous Mexican businesses,including Reynolds Aluminio, General Popo .
Bimex hotels and Sanborms a food retailer. He also acquired a 40% interest in the Mexican arms of British American Tabacco and 50% of that of Herskey's .
He moved into financial services as well, buying Seguros de México and creating from it, along with other purchases such as Fianzas La Guardiana and Casa de Bolsa Inbursa,the Grupo Financiero Inbursa Many of these acquisitions were financed by the cash flows from Cigitam, a tobacco business which he bought early in the economic downturn.
He added the Nacrobre group of companies – which trade in copper and aluminium products – in 1986, along with a chemicals business, Química Fluor, and others .
In 1990 the Grupo Carso was floated as a public company, with share placements initially in Mexico and then worldwide .
In 1991 he acquired Hoteles Calinda (today, OSTAR Grupo Hotelero) and in 1993 increased his stakes in General Tire and Grupo Aluminio to the point where he had a majority interest.
1999 saw Slim expanding his business interests beyond Latin America. He set up Telmex USA and also acquired a stake in Tracfone a US cellular telephone company. At the same time he established Carso Infraestructura y Construcción, S. A. (CICSA) as a part of the Grupo Carso, this being a construction and engineering company.[2] It was also at this time that he had heart surgery and subsequently passed on much of the day-to-day involvement in the businesses to his children and their spouses.
