Wealthy Mexican. Carlos Slim: biography, family, fortune, success story

National Businessman

Carlos Slim Al has been holding the title for three years now. This is the first person who pushed American billionaires from the top lines of the rankings. For the previous two decades, they alone had reigned supreme in this shrine of all the saints of world business.

Forbes magazine put him at the top of the world's rich three years ago. Then his main rival was Bill Gates.

The main principle of Carlos's success is the desire to move forward:

• he got into the rotation of Forbes billionaires in 2002, when his fortune was € 11 billion;
• in 2006, he was already in third place with a capital of $20 billion;
• in 2010, his fortune was estimated at $ 53.5 billion, which is approximately his homeland - Mexico;
• in 2011, he added another $20.5 billion to it, while Gates added $3 billion.

He was born to a Lebanese refugee family

The fate of Carlos Slim Elu may be a manual on how to "make yourself" (a very popular expression in the United States that characterizes successful businessmen). However, his father played a big role in his development as a talented entrepreneur. Carlos was the fifth child born in Mexico City to a Lebanese family. It happened on January 28, 1940. The arrival of his father Julian in Mexico was prompted by his family's ardent desire to save the young man from serving in the Turkish army. In Mexico City, he met the daughter of a successful merchant, his countryman. And since it was impossible to refuse him business acumen, he immediately took up real estate transactions. In 1920, Julian bought a house in downtown Mexico City and turned it into a thriving supermarket. And so that the money would not go to the side, he attached all six of his children to work.

The smartest of them was little Carlos. His business sense gave grounds to his father to attach a teenager to the field of stock investment.

17 year old millionaire

Already at the age of 17, Carlos made the first million of his future huge fortune. In parallel with doing business, he comprehended civil engineering, choosing the National Autonomous University of Mexico for his studies. He was such a diligent and undoubtedly talented student that the teachers allowed him, when he was already completing his studies, to teach his classmates the basics of linear programming and algebra. In 1961, he received a diploma from the aforementioned university, but, of course, work in his specialty did not appeal to the young millionaire. He turned his initial capital into investments, directing them to the development of the insurance business, real estate and trade. Bought hotels and acquired the Sanborns chain of stores. In the 60s, many different ways were proposed for the development of this sphere of the economy. So he laid the foundation for the systematic capitalization of his business.

His main business principles of this period of time:

• consumer goods in its distribution network were available to buyers whose income leaves much to be desired;
• his version of the turnover of funds proposed by the great Karl Marx: bought cheaply - updated - sold dearly or annexed to his own empire.

Garso Group, Telmex and others

1982 was for Mexico and a large-scale economic crisis. The country was unable to pay its external debt, and big businessmen sold their assets cheaply. Coolly playing on the created panic, Carlos significantly increased his capital. As a result, his fortune was replenished with many promising companies. At the same time, he founded his main brainchild in the form of an investment holding Garso Group.

Following further along the path of the once chosen method, Carlos created the Frisco corporation as part of his empire, which quickly became a leader in the extraction of minerals (ore and coal) and began to crush the national chemical industry. As a result, he became the owner of a large number of companies in various sectors of the national economy. Now half of all Mexicans and Mexican businesses use his empire in some way or deal with it as partners every day. Carlos went into politics abruptly, communicating in 1988-94 with his namesake. Carlos Salinas de Gortari, his friend, was at that time President of Mexico. It is possible that thanks to such powerful patrons, he was able to privatize the state telecommunications company Telmex, which was a monopoly in this market segment.

The owner of telecommunications

For five whole years following this largest deal, Carlos put things in order in the overgrown affairs. And in the end, he completely reconstructed his entire business and successfully passed another national default in 1995. His beloved Telmex, as a result, became a leader in the national economy, providing its owner with annual income of $ 1 billion. And not accustomed to rest on his laurels, Slim added Condumex (telecommunications equipment) and Prodigy (the first national provider and web pioneer) to his empire. ). At the very turn of the millennium, he invested $1.5 billion in American firms that operated fiber-optic networks and cell phone centers in Florida and Puerto Rico. Over time, he became the full owner of telecommunications throughout Latin America. They call him the Mexican Bill Gates. It employs 200 thousand people. He is a major benefactor. He has many awards and titles. He considers:

• family is the most precious thing a person has;
• wealth is a garden, and one should share with others not trees, but fruits;
• that in striving to change the world for the better so that children are happy, it is better to change children so that they then serve the world;
• do not produce excess when rich - and your business will remain stable even in difficult times!

Carlos Slim Helu is a Mexican billionaire who tops the Forbes list. His fortune, according to 2013, is $ 73 billion. At the same time, his name appears in the press much less frequently than the names of the second and third billionaires in the world, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. But the other day he made a statement that forced the media of many countries to write about him. Carlos Slim Elu expressed the opinion that people should work only three days a week, devoting 10-11 hours a day to work. Four weekends people should spend with their families, take care of their health and education. At the same time, 74-year-old Carlos Slim is sure that now people are retiring too early. We must allow them to work fully until the age of 70, and those who feel the strength in themselves - even longer. Three days - to work, four - to rest and do other things. Who is this person who offers such an attractive layout of life?

Carlos Slim Elu was born on January 28, 1940 in Mexico City. He was the fifth child of a Lebanese refugee and the daughter of a successful Lebanese merchant. His father, Julian Slim, came to Mexico in 1902 to escape mandatory conscription into the Ottoman army.

Julian Slim quickly got used to the new place. At the beginning of his career, he traded real estate, and later he became the owner of several mansions and a supermarket in downtown Mexico City. All six of Julian's children helped their father from an early age, for which they received quite impressive "pocket money" by children's standards. The father watched how the children spend their savings, simultaneously teaching them the basics of money management. Each of the children had a notebook in which they wrote down their income and expenses, and the father not only controlled the movement of money, but also gave advice on how to increase capital.

Of all the children, Carlos was the smartest, most talented and diligent. In addition, the boy had the ability to do mathematics, which helped him to start investing. Carlos made his first "adult" investments at the age of 12, acquiring shares in a Mexican bank. And the first million Carlos Slim Elu earned when the young man was only 17 years old.

Success in business did not blind either Carlos or his father. The young man entered the National University of Mexico, where he studied construction, while continuing to play on the stock exchange. In senior years, Carlos earned in another, rather unusual way - he taught algebra and programming to students of other courses.

At the age of 25, Carlos left the walls of the university with a degree in civil engineering, but he never began to work in his specialty. By that time, young Slim was already the owner of quite significant capital, part of which he invested in the purchase of hotels, the insurance business and trade. In the latest industry, Slim had an idea. It consisted in the fact that in his stores the prices of goods were affordable for ordinary Mexicans.

In 1982, Mexico experienced a major economic crisis due to the country's inability to pay off its foreign debt. Taking advantage of this, the wealthy Slim bought up a lot of assets on the cheap. Many promising companies that found themselves in a hopeless situation became the property of Slim. Then Slim founded his first investment holding Carso Group. The name of the holding is formed from the first syllables of the names of Carlos and his wife Soumai.

In the crisis of the 80s, Carlos Slim turns his attention to the mining industry. As a result, he becomes the owner of Frisco Corporation - the leader of the national mining and chemical industries.

Slim's influence on the Mexican economy becomes such that every Mexican is exposed to his companies or products. At this time, Slim begins to climb to the heights of the political Olympus. True, Slim does not go directly into politics, preferring to establish and maintain good relations with the authorities. Close relations and even friendship with Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari in 1988-94 played into the hands of Slim in the privatization of the then monopoly in the communications market - the state telecommunications company Telmex (Telefonos de Mexico).

This acquisition subsequently became the cause of a major scandal. The fact is that, having acquired a stake, Slim, under the terms of the contract, had to share part of the proceeds with Gotari and the ruling party of the country. The details of the deal were known only to the two of them, the investigation did not particularly find out anything, and after Gotari resigned, the story came to naught.

Despite the blow to his reputation, Carlos Slim continued to explore the promising telecommunications market. In the late 90s and early 2000s, Slim becomes the owner of a 30 percent stake in America Movil, a Latin American consortium of cellular operators. In 2008 in The New York Times and Citibank. In 2011, he invested in the largest Spanish media company Prisa. According to experts, Carlos Slim often made investments at times when companies were experiencing difficulties and were even on the verge of a crisis. Slim, thanks to his organizational skills, managed to establish a business so that he again began to work and make a profit. With many "restored" assets, Slim parted. Naturally with a profit. C some - did not part even despite the tempting offers. So in 2002, he bought the liabilities of the bankrupt WorldCom at a bargain price and became the largest shareholder of MCI formed in its place. Verizon was ready to buy MCI shares from him for the sake of the merger, Slim would have received $ 600 million in net profit. But he opposed the deal. As a result, Verizon had to pay him $1.12 billion. Slim's profit was about $1 billion.

In 2002, the Mexican first got into the Forbes rich list. By 2006, he is in the top three, second only to Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. In 2007 - on the second line of the Forbes list, and according to others, Gates himself. Forbes named Carlos Slim the richest man in the world in 2010. Since then, he has managed to keep the lead.

Interesting facts about Carlos Slim Elu

• Loves art. The world's largest owner of sculptures by Auguste Rodin. In honor of his wife, who died in 1999, he founded the Museo Soumaya Museum in Mexico City, which exhibits sculptures from his collection.
• Once a year, the whole huge Slim family, including little grandchildren and sons - business tycoons, gathers on vacation on the west coast of Mexico. Family values ​​and responsibility are always in the first place for Slims.
• Slim's mansion has a humidor - a room with strictly controlled temperature and humidity, necessary for storing cigars. According to the stories of connoisseurs, sometimes, it was there, smoking a cigar, that Slim made the most important decisions that brought him to the top of the list of rich people.
• Carlos Slim himself taught mathematics to his six children, at the same time instilling in them the basics of business. Three sons followed in the footsteps of their father, the eldest of them - Carlos Slim Domit - is the chairman of the board of directors of the Carso Group.
• The richest man in Mexico rarely uses the services of bodyguards.
• He is famous for his frugality and does not like luxury. Even at meetings at the highest level, he wears a simple digital watch with a built-in calculator.
• He founded the Carlos Slim Institute of Health, a foundation dedicated to fighting cancer and diabetes.
• millions and billions into the economy and education of Mexico.
• Carlos Slim Elu is one of the main investors in Nicolás Negroponte's "Laptop for Every Child" program.

10 rules of life from Carlos Slim Elu

• When I decide to do something, I do it quickly.
• When, during the crisis, everyone got rid of assets, I, on the contrary, bought.
• I spend most of my time learning new technologies. I need to know what's going on in the world and how to make money from it.
• Poverty is the best environment for growth. Getting my country out of poverty is the biggest investment of my life.
• Wealth is a garden in which fruits are to be shared, not trees.
• Avoid excesses even in the easiest times of your life, for this will provide you with stability in times of greatest difficulty.
• Compromise and responsibility are the main components of a successful business.
• My goal is not money. I strive to create successful companies with a close-knit team.
• I don't care about my reputation. If you live on other people's thoughts, you are dead. I don't want to live the rest of my life worrying about what posterity will say about me.
• Many people want to change the world for the better for their children. I want to change my children so that they serve the world.

Carlos Slim Elu along with Americans Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, he is one of the three richest people in the world. At the same time, Slim has recently shown the fastest growth rates.

According to Forbes, in 2010 he has the first largest fortune. The richest man in Latin America. The financial condition is based on the communications industry, Teléfonos de México, Altria Group (formerly a director of Philip Morris), Telcel and América Móvil. The main asset of the entrepreneur is the holding company Grupo Carso, which controls a number of large Mexican companies.

The fortune of the Mexican businessman is estimated at more than 67.8 billion dollars, which is equal to 8% of the gross domestic product of Mexico. The site estimated Gates' fortune at $59.2 billion. Slim, 70, managed to dislodge Gates from the top spot in the rankings thanks to a 27% increase in the share price of America Movil from March to June 2007 - the Mexican tycoon owns a 33% stake in this largest mobile operator in the Latin American region.

Carlos Slim became the first Mexican in the history of the rating to rise to the top of the pyramid of billionaires. Also, for the first time in 16 years, a non-US citizen did so. His fortune is estimated by experts at 53.5 billion dollars. During the year it increased by 18.5 billion.

Companies controlled by him de facto monopolists in the telecommunications sector of Mexico And.

Patrick, the youngest son of Carlos Slim Elu, remembers well that his father was not always a super wealthy man. This refers to the 1980s, when Mexico was in a deep financial crisis. Carlos periodically called his three teenage sons together for economics classes. As a rule, everyone sat at home in the living room around the head of the family. The lessons were practical, they looked at examples of how Mexican insurance companies were more successful than American ones, or, conversely, how much Mexican industrial manufacturers were inferior to their European competitors. For Mr. Slim, who once taught mathematics, these classes meant much more than just academic lessons. He wanted to teach his sons the same things he learned from his father, a Lebanese immigrant, Julian Slim, who came to Mexico in 1902 to avoid being drafted into the regular army of the Ottoman Empire. Establishing his own real estate business in Mexico City, Slim Senior, after the Mexican Revolution of 1920, purchased real estate in the downtown area and opened a supermarket.

Julian Slim liked to say that no matter what, You can't discount a big country like Mexico. Carlos Slim invested heavily in the family business. He inherited an outstanding ability to calculate the situation from his father. Initially, after spending $55 million to develop his own insurance company, Carlos invested heavily in the Sanborns retail chain and the hotel business. These investments became the basis Slim's huge business empire, worth $150 billion today. Mexican billionaire Slim's family business earned 5% of Mexico's gross domestic product in 2006. Fat and constantly smoking a cigar Carlos Slim can be compared with the famous American financier John Morgan (John Morgan). But given the presence of his interests in various spheres of the world economy, he looks more like a billionaire Rockefeller(John D. Rockefeller), who excelled in doing business in an internationally competitive environment.

Mr Slim is known for his frugality . During business meetings, he defiantly wears an old cheap watch with a built-in calculator. A few years ago, he wrote the so-called corporate code for employees of the manufacturing conglomerate Grupo Carso. One of his rules says: "Avoid excesses even in the easiest times of your life, for this will provide you with stability during the greatest difficulties." The average Mexican constantly encounters parts of Mr. Slim's business empire, such as the Telefonos de Mexico (TelMex) corporation that controls 92% of the nation's wireline telecommunications network. And his own company, America Movil, controls 70% of the assets in the mobile communications segment in Mexico.

George W. Grayson, an American professor of public administration, calls Mexico Slimland, trying to show how deeply rooted the Slim family business is in the daily life of this country. Many Mexican citizens hoped that the beginning of the privatization process in the 1990s would lead to a competitive environment and sharp price cuts. However, according to Professor Grayson, Carlos Slim is one of those "fat cats" who hinder the development of the Mexican economy, leading monopoly or oligopoly. The professor believes that the national economy of Mexico is very efficient, but because of such monopolists as Slim, the ability to compete in the country is reduced to zero. In the early 1960s, Carlos, after graduating in engineering from the National University of Mexico City, became a stockbroker in the capital and began acquiring industrial companies on the stock exchange. Over time, he formed his own financial holding Grupo Carso. In 1982, there was an economic crisis in Mexico. The country was declared a default due to non-payment of external debt.

Investors were leaving Mexico City, and Carlos Slim got the opportunity buy companies for nothing. Gradually, the Mexican economy recovered, and by the end of the 1980s, Slim became one of the most successful businessmen in the country. When the Mexican government put up for sale the state telecommunications company Telefonos de Mexico, Carlos Slim did his best to become its co-owner. Together with the American corporation SBC (now AT&T) and France Telecom, Mr. Slim acquired a 20% stake in Telefonos de Mexico for $2 billion. In addition, Slim and the company received a monopoly on the management of state telecommunications for 7 years.

Another component of Carlos Slim's success was the sponsorship of the PRI political party, led by former Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari. The well-known Latin American publicist Andres Oppenheimer, in his book on Mexican politics, Curbing Chaos, describes a party that took place in 1993, at which representatives of Salinas turned to 30 influential businessmen of the country for help. Among them was Carlos Slim, who offered to all those present to help the pro-presidential party in private, so as not to provoke a public scandal. According to unverified data, each of the businessmen donated about $25 million on average. By investing in politics, Carlos Slim secured his business many years of support from the Mexican government. Thanks to this, Slim's financial empire effectively monopolized the country's telecommunications industry for more than 15 years. Over time, Mr. Slim began to look for ways to expand his business outside of Mexico. As Randall Stephenson, an AT&T executive who worked in Mexico from 1992-1996, recalls, Carlos Slim was constantly nurturing the idea of ​​conquering the Latin American mobile telecommunications market, so he began to buy up regional cellular operators. In 2000, he skillfully took advantage of the financial crisis in the Internet market to acquire a number of bankrupt regional telephone operators, including the Latin American subsidiary of AT&T. This ultimately gave it a dominant position in the provision of telecommunications services in Latin America. Despite the fact that Carlos Slim conducts his business with the help of numerous commercial companies, the overall control of the business is carried out by a group of his close and trusted persons. Having undergone heart surgery in 1997, 67-year-old Carlos Slim Elu is gradually retiring and passing the initiative to his sons, who form the backbone of the Slim family business.

Coming to the fore three of his sons- Carlos Jr., Marco Antonio and Patrick, who are actively involved in the development of various areas of the family business. Although Carlos Slim Elu has not yet officially named his successor, at the moment his eldest son, also Carlos Slim, is actually the second person in the Slim family hierarchy. It is he who heads the financial conglomerate Grupo Carso and, according to close friends, has the most pronounced charisma among the three brothers. It should be noted that the sons of Carlos Slim Sr. are not like the children of other famous oligarchs. They did not go to Europe to finish some elite special school there and get a foreign diploma. The Slim brothers studied economics in their home country of Mexico City and gained hands-on experience in the family business.

Carlos Jr., starting at the age of 14, worked in his father's banking institutions. At one time, he was engaged in the development of the Sanborns shopping center in downtown Mexico City, which later became the most prestigious store in the capital selling books and musical products. In 1998, Carlos Jr. headed the financial holding Grupo Carso. If Carlos Jr. became the main specialist in the field of service and work with corporate clients, then Marco Antonio positions himself only as a financier. His business career began in 1992 with the Inbursa financial group, part of Grupo Carso. Becoming at the age of 24 years at the head of this financial institution, Marco Antonio leads it to this day. Patrick, the youngest son of Carlos Slim Elu, began working for his father's America Movil after attending university. Since 2004, when he was elected chairman of the board, the value of the company's shares has tripled. Thus, under Patrick's leadership, America Movil became the most profitable component of Carlos Slim's business empire.

The Slim family has a number of well-established traditions, one of which is the collective vacation on the west coast of Mexico. In the summer, all family members, including Mr. Slim's little grandchildren, get together to spend a few weeks somewhere on the beach of the Gulf of California. According to Carlos Jr., love for the family hearth was instilled in him and his brothers from early childhood. Father and mother taught them to enjoy life and realize the responsibility of each to the family. The issue of responsibility has always been at the core of the Slim family philosophy.

On accounts charities, created by Mr. Slim, is about $ 4 billion. Over the next few years, these accounts will receive another $6 billion. Carlos Slim has invested $500 million in education and social development in Mexico. It is one of the main sponsors of Nicholas Negroponte's "Laptop for Every Child" program. Recently, Mr. Slim transferred about $100 million to the Bill Clinton charitable foundation, which fights poverty in Latin America. In addition, he made significant investments in the restoration of the historic part of the city of Mexico City. Carlos Slim Elu has his own view on the problem of providing social assistance. The Slim family is trying to invest more in the development of the national economy than in social subsidies. According to Marco Antonio, the best way to help people is to give them the opportunity to work, not just give them money. The Slims are trying to improve the state of affairs in the educational and medical spheres, social life in Mexico, as well as in the field of employment. Carlos Slim Elu was awarded the World Education and Development Fund for his assistance in expanding the infrastructure of the world economy.

At one of the last solemn receptions in New York, Mr. Slim, in the presence of family members, said: "Many people want to change the world for the better for their children. I'm trying to change my children for the better so that they serve the world".

Mexican multibillionaire who for many years held the palm on the Forbes list from 2010 to 2013. Financial fortune founded thanks to the communications industry Teléfonos de México, Altria Group (formerly director of Philip Morris), Telcel and America Movil. The main asset of the entrepreneur is the holding company Grupo Carso, which controls a number of large Mexican companies. . The story of Carlos Slim, who achieved unprecedented success through perseverance and an indestructible desire for success, is amazing and instructive. The status of a billionaire, without any exaggeration, can be called a personal merit based on hard work, business acumen and, of course, entrepreneurial talent.

Mentors

Carlos Slim Elu Born January 28, 1940 in Mexico City, in the family of an emigrant from Lebanon. His example is instructive, first of all, in how important a role in his life was played by the love of work and financial education vaccinated by his parents. His father, Julian Slim, had a business acumen and went into business in 1920, opening a supermarket in downtown Mexico City. He managed to create a successful trading business. All six of Julian's children began to work in this business, from whom he demanded "loyalty, talent and diligence." In return, children received non-children's pocket money, which they learned to "manage" starting from the first grade of school. Each child had his own notebook, where he entered income and expenses, which they then discussed and analyzed with the whole family. And also, together with their father, in practice, they considered examples of successes and failures of American, European and Mexican companies. Carlos's father wanted to teach his son the main thing - the ability to calculate situations, to be one step ahead of events. Perhaps it was these classes that played an important role in the story of his success. Carlos Slim Elu's father died suddenly in 1953, when he was only 13 years old. But to all his children, Don Julian Slim was able to instill the importance of family relationships as one of the main priorities in life. It is the family that motivates you to achieve your goals. When you know that the life of people close to you depends on you, then there is simply no time to be lazy and no time to blame someone for your failures. You just go and do it.

Development of success

So, the future multibillionaire from childhood began to learn how to save and increase capital. As a twelve-year-old teenager, Carlos began to carry out the first investment project in his life, opening a bank account in which he decided to raise money to buy shares in a bank of Mexico. With the blessing of his father, the teenager began to engage in stock investment, and at the age of seventeen he made his first million.

Carlos, continuing to successfully engage in investment, had time to study at the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. In his last years, he even taught linear programming and algebra in other streams. After Carlos Slim received his diploma in 1961, he did not work by profession.

Carlos Slim Elu started his entrepreneurial career in retail. By setting affordable prices for consumer goods for the poor Mexican population, Carlos hit the bull's-eye. As a result, his trading company Carso became the main competitor of the local trading giant Wal-Mart. In 1982, Mexico defaulted due to the inability to pay its foreign debt. A large-scale economic crisis occurred in the country, investors got rid of solid assets for a few centimes. Carlos Slim took advantage of the panic situation and the money left from his father. As a result, he managed to buy up many promising companies for next to nothing. Then the famous investment holding Carso Group was founded, named after the first syllables of the name of Carlos and his wife Soumai.

The next step was mining ore and coal, and to this day, part of his diversified syndicate Group Carso, Frisco Corporation has become the leader of the national mining industry, as well as the chemical industry.

By the end of the 1980s, the expansion of the various companies that make up Group Carso into various sectors of the Mexican market reached such a scale that every second Mexican resident and every second enterprise encountered at least one of the structures of this syndicate every day, being a consumer its goods and services.

Meanwhile, there is nothing supernatural about Slim's success and career path. Porter Gifford, a British economist, once said that all of Latin America's most legal fortunes are based on three fundamental elements: exploitation of the subsoil, exploitation of the needs of the poor, and exploitation of political ties. And the success story of Carlos Slim confirms this thesis almost completely.

Telecommunication business

In addition to acquiring assets, Carlos also acquired useful political connections. Thanks to his friendship with the leader of the country, in 1990 he wins a tender for the purchase of the mobile operator Telmex and buys Telefonos de Mexico, the state monopoly in the field of communications. By acquiring the company for only $400 million (the real price of a monopoly is $12 billion), Carlos Slim Helu caused a storm of indignation and indignation. This deal led to a political scandal, as a result of which the president had to constantly explain himself to the government and the public until he left office. And, Carlos Slim Elu, not paying much attention to this small blow to his reputation, continued to build his own financial empire. It took him five years to put the company in order: streamline corporate governance, rebuild the technical base and create a range of services and build a partnership structure. These efforts were not in vain - the reconstruction carried out in five years allowed the company to avoid the nationwide financial disaster of 1995, which depreciated the Mexican peso and ruined the Mexico City Commodity Exchange, without a fatal outcome. Thus, Telmex met a new round in the development of Mexico's industry, not as a decrepit enterprise with government protection, but as the leader of the national economy and the leading provider of telecommunications services in the country. The annual turnover of the concern by that time exceeded 10 billion dollars, and the net profit was about 1 billion.

In 1999, Carlos Slim invested $1.5 billion to control several US firms operating fiber optic networks and cell phone centers in Florida and Puerto Rico.

In February 2000, on shares with SBC, he became a co-owner of the well-known Internet provider Network Access Solutions. A joint project with Microsoft tripled the number of Internet users, which led to an increase in the sale of computer equipment.

Here the story that exists in the press and among the people, connected with the Slim family, will be curious: they say that until the mid-90s, Senor Elu experienced a pathological fear in relation to computer technology, carefully bypassed it and, recognizing its undoubted and enormous importance for information progress and the entire current economy, fundamentally retained its own absolute computer ignorance. Everything changed with a single Christmas, on which his sons gave him a laptop. Being a loving father who did not have a disrespectful attitude to children's gifts, Slim Sr., under their strict guidance, took up the development of unloved technology and got to the Internet, independent travel through which aroused the enthusiasm with which the head of Carso Global Telecom subsequently took up the embodiment of new web technology ideas.

Family

In 1966, Carlos Slim married a girl of Lebanese origin and lived happily with her for 32 years until her death in 1999. In marriage, he had six children: four sons and two daughters. As befits Latin Americans, Carlos makes the main bet on his family - all senior positions in his business are occupied by relatives. Having undergone a heart operation in 1997, Carlos Slim Elu is gradually retiring and passing the initiative to his sons, who form the backbone of the Slim family business. The post of chairman of the board of the trade and industrial group, the telecommunications holding, its main company Telmex and the venture capital enterprise America Telecom is held by the eldest son Carlos, and his brothers, Patrick and Marco Antonio, head, respectively, the company America Movil and Grupo Financiero Inbursa - the basic financial structure family empire. And the founder himself controls their activities and puts forward new ideas.

Carlos Slim Elu teaches business management lessons to his sons. Their uniqueness is that they are practical - the study of success and failure stories once helped Carlos himself to gain success and wealth.

In 2002, Slim Elu was listed as a billionaire by Forbes magazine. His fortune was estimated at 11 billion euros. Already in 2006, he takes third place with a fortune of $ 30 billion, second only to Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. In 2007, Fortune magazine reported that Carlos Slim Helu is the richest man in the world. However, Forbes did not share this point: in their opinion, in 2008, Carlos, with a fortune of sixty billion dollars, took second place, losing to Buffett, and in 2009 he dropped to third place, due to the fact that the Mexican businessman, due to the global financial crisis has lost more than twenty billion dollars. In early 2010, after the improvement in the situation of companies, according to Forbes magazine, the richest man in the world becomes Carlos Slim Elu, his fortune is estimated at 53.5 billion dollars. Behind him is Bill Gates with 53 billion. In 2011, Slim Elu retains the lead, and his fortune is estimated at $74 billion. Carlos Slim became the first Mexican in the history of the rating to rise to the top of the pyramid of billionaires. Also, for the first time in 16 years, a non-US citizen did so.

In 2012, his fortune fell to 69 billion, but allowed him to maintain his first place in the ranking of the richest people in the world. Over the past three years, the fortune of a Mexican businessman has fluctuated from 5 to 8% gross domestic product Mexico. On January 28, 2013, his fortune was estimated at $78 billion.

public affairs

Carlos, like many of the richest people in the world, does not skimp on charity, which can become a powerful incentive for the development of Latin America in the near future. But Carlos Slim Elu's attitude to charity is not quite traditional. He believes that it makes no sense to give people money and prefers to invest in education. In Mexico, for example, he created a network of free digital libraries for people who can't afford a laptop. His position to this extent directly collates with folk wisdom "Feed a hungry man with fish, he will be full only today, teach him to fish, he will always be full."

Carlos Slim is one of the world's largest philanthropists. He established the Carlos Slim Foundation, which finances educational, cultural and medical projects in Mexico. In March 2011, with the participation of the foundation, the Soumaya Museum was opened (the museum got its name in honor of Slim's wife, who died in 1999), which exhibits the treasures of world culture.

Slim devotes much of his time to the Latin American Development Fund, whose areas of work are infrastructure development, health care and worker education.

In addition, Carlos Slim Helu has invested heavily in the restoration of the historic part of the city of Mexico City. This is a special mission for him, which he follows on the instructions of his father.

Carlos Slim Elu has many honorary titles and awards not only from Mexico, but also from the USA and several European countries. He has received an award from the World Education and Development Fund for his assistance in expanding the infrastructure of the world economy.

November 17, 2012 Slim acquired one of the most historically important Spanish football clubs Real Oviedo, who played in Spanish Second Football League, which had narrowly avoided bankruptcy the day before.

The richest person in the world spends huge amounts of money on education and social assistance, which once again confirms that all successful people have much more global goals than satisfying their ambitions and desires.

It is necessary to set a goal for yourself that will help improve the world and leave a mark on it, which other people will later remember with gratitude.

Planets of Bill Gates, founder and ideological inspirer of Microsoft. Carlos Slim became the first Mexican who managed to conquer the pyramidal top of billionaires. This has become a sensation for the world's business, given the fact that over the past sixteen years this has been done by a person without US citizenship.

How to be born a billionaire?

On January 28, 1940, the future Mexican businessman and philanthropist Carlos Slim Helu was born in the family of a Mexican realtor of Arab origin Julian Slim Haddad. This was the fifth child of Julian Slim Haddad and Linda Ellu Atta. The business acumen of his father Carlos, who moved from Lebanon to Mexico at the age of fourteen, quickly allowed the boy to adapt to the world of business. By the age of 30, the father of the future billionaire had several outlets in the business part of the capital of the Latin American state. Julian Slim passed on his managerial skills to his children, of whom he had six.

First investment lessons

The success story of Carlos Slim begins at the age of seventeen. At that time, a young man, having the flair of a stock investor, makes his first million. Carlos Slim recalls his first lessons in profitable investing as follows: “My father forced each of us, his children, to keep a special notebook of income and expenses. Coming from school, we wrote down all our expenses for the day in it. Father carefully reviewed the records and gave an assessment to each of us. These evening gatherings with the whole family at dinner became a real life lesson for me and my relatives. In modern terms, it was a master class.”

The recommendations of the enterprising father were heard by Carlos. A young man gets his first investment experience at the age of twelve. With pocket money saved, which his father gave him daily, at the age of twelve, Carlos Slim buys shares in Banco Nacional de Mexico, the second largest bank in Mexico after BBVA Bancomer.

Carlos Slim: biography of the future billionaire

Slim continues to invest in a profitable business while studying at the National Autonomous University of Mexico at the Faculty of Civil Engineering. The outstanding abilities of the student were appreciated by the university management. In his last year, Carlos Slim (photo can be seen in the article) was recommended by the university administration to teach linear programming and algebra to junior university students.

However, having received a diploma of higher education from the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 1961, Carlos Slim did not work in the engineering specialty received at the university, he was attracted by investments.

The birth of a financial empire

Carlos Slim starts his career as a stockbroker. Working 14 hours a day, in 1965 he manages to make a profit from private investments of 400 thousand dollars. This inspires Carlos to bigger projects. This is how the brokerage company "Inversora Bursátil" appears, which becomes the foundation for creating a large family business.

In 1966, the future billionaire in the first letters of the name Slim Ellu and his wife Sumai Domit Gemayel organizes the real estate agency Inmobiliaria Carso. A successful commercial project quickly brings the necessary profit and becomes the financial basis for creating the future Grupo Carso empire. In the late 60s, the financial condition of Carlos Slim reaches a little over 50 million dollars.

Carlos Slim: biography of the 70s

The financial well-being of Carlos Slim, thanks to competent investment, is growing every year. By 1972, he acquired seven more enterprises, mainly these were production facilities for the manufacture of construction equipment. In 1976, Slim becomes the owner of a 60 percent stake in Galas de Mexico, a small printing house that produces cigar boxes.

The investment in the project is one million dollars. Within four years, the entire production of the company Galas de Mexico belonged to him. The focus of Carlos Slim's growing business in the following years was:

• production of non-ferrous metals;
• airlines;
• industrial and civil construction;
• chemical and pulp and paper industry;
• insurance investment.

Growth of financial power

In 1982, the Mexican economy experienced a financial crisis. Banking activity suffered a collapse, some went bankrupt, others were looking for sources of financing. A foreign investor turned away from the Latin American state, many commercial projects had to be closed, companies suffered multimillion-dollar losses.

However, Carlos' keen investment eye kept a close eye on companies that could turn a profit later on. Buying assets at low prices, Slim ended up with a fairly solid income thanks to successful reinvestment.

In 1985, at the peak of Mexico's economic downturn, he bought Empresas, the only state-owned monopoly mining and chemical company producing gold, silver, copper and other non-ferrous metals, for $50 million.

The owner of telecommunications

In the early 90s, Carlos Slim significantly increases his capital. Mexico privatizes its telecommunications industry and Grupo Carso acquires Telmex from the Mexican government. Then there was a major deal with the acquisition of a controlling stake from the Porcelanite company. Gradually, Grupo Carso is gaining momentum, and already from a company known only in Latin America, it develops into a global brand. The further chronology of events is also impressive:

Ahead - America!

In 1999, Carlos Slim's gaze turns to the United States of America. Expanding his business interests outside of Latin America, the billionaire is targeting foreign investment from his northern neighbor. Soon Carlos Slim achieves some success and becomes a prominent figure in the American business scene.

In 2002, the famous Forbes magazine included him in the list of billionaires, estimating the total fortune of Carlos Slim at 11 billion dollars. Since 2003, he has managed to buy large stakes in a number of large US retailers. In 2006, behind only Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, Carlos Slim comes in third place with a net worth of $30 billion.

A year later, Carlos becomes the richest man on earth. Today, his fortune is estimated at 81.5 billion dollars, which allows him to hold the world championship among the world's moneybags.

Personal life

The billionaire has been happily married for 32 years. His only love was Sumai Domit Gemayel, a Lebanese-born girl and cousin of the former President of Lebanon. My wife has been involved in charity all her life. The main idea of ​​her life was the creation of a legal basis for organ donation, a project funded by Carlos Slim. The family meant a lot to the Mexican magnate.

He believed that a successful marriage makes a person strong and independent, just like money. Unfortunately, everything has its end. In 1999, his wife passed away, in the same year, Carlos Slim underwent a complex heart operation to bypass coronary vessels. The main thing that Sumai Domit Gemayel and Carlos Slim managed to do in this life are children: Carlos, Marco Antonio, Patrick, Sumaya, Vanessa and Johanna.

Slim's fortune spawned a business empire in the family. Today, company shares are acquired not only on behalf of Carlos Slim, but also from his children. His three eldest sons hold key positions in the companies of the Carso group.

There are no computers in Carlos Slim's office. He keeps all his financial data on paper. The business empire of the Mexican tycoon has grown to such an extent that Carlos himself jokingly says that he does not know what he now owns.

Real estate

Where does Carlos Slim live and what does he own? The house of the Mexican billionaire is located in Lomas de Chapultepec, one of the most prestigious areas of modern Mexico City. A modest dwelling, built forty years ago, is located near the place where Carlos spent his childhood and youth.

In addition, in different years he acquired:

• the former New York Times building on West 43rd Street;
• 11-story building on First Avenue in New York;
• 10-story building on the corner of Wilshere and Santa Monica Boulevard;
• two mansions in Detroit;
• mansion on 5th Avenue in New York, with a total area of ​​20 thousand square meters.

The main real estate of Carlos is located in the United States of America. In May 2014, K. Slim presented to the world community his own Inbursa aquarium, the largest in Latin America.

Charity

Slim has always been ironic about philanthropy, criticizing Warren Buffett and Bill Gates for their annual 5% donations to various charities.

He said: "I am not God and not Santa Claus, to help the poor, to solve their problems." Everything changed in 1999, when his beloved wife died, and Carlos himself found himself on the border between life and death. After a successful coronary bypass operation, Carlos Slim said: "Finally, I realized that after death I will not be able to take my billions with me."

Today, the Carlos Slim Foundation has $4 billion in its account. The Slim Foundation donated $100 million to the nationwide Laptop for a Kid program. The charitable idea is to provide every student in Mexico with a personal computer. Carlos also responded to the idea of ​​US President Bill Clinton to fight poverty in Latin America.

Merit recognition

The long entrepreneurial activity of Carlos Slim did not go unnoticed:

• 1985 Entrepreneurial Medal of Honor from the Mexican Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
• 1991 "Gold Patron" from the American Academy of Achievement.
• 1998 Order of Leopold II from the Belgian government.
• 2003-2004 Badge "Best General Manager" from the Latin trade magazine.
• 2008 National Order of the Cedar from the Lebanese government.
• 2011. The Spanish Society of America honors Carlos Slim with the Soroll Medal for his contributions to the arts and culture.
• year 2012. "Honorary Doctor" from the George Washington University (USA).

Tips from a tycoon

The whole world knows the Mexican billionaire as the author of unique aphorisms and sayings. Carlos Slim quotes:

1. Luck in personal life makes a person stronger.
2. Many people change the world for the better for their children, and I, on the contrary, change my children for the better so that they change the world.
3. Wealth is a blooming garden where it is necessary to share not trees, but its fruits.
4. Try not to make small mistakes anymore.
5. If you depend on the opinions of competitors, then you are dead.
6. To foresee the future, you need to know the past.

It is difficult to disagree with these aphorisms, especially knowing who said them.