Carlos Slim

Carlos Slim Helú
Born January 28, 1940) is a Mexican business magnate 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 Telmex and América Móvil and has extensive holdings in other Mexican companies through his conglomerate, Grupo Carso SAB, as well as business interestselsewhere in the world.
América Móvil, which at 2010 was Latin America’s largest mobile-phone carrier, accounted for around US$49 billion of his wealth by the end of 2010. His corporate holdings as of March 2011 have been estimated at US$74 billion
Early years
Slim was born in Mexico City, Mexico in 1940 to Maronite Christian parents Julián Slim Haddad and Linda Helú, both of Lebanese descent. Hisfather, born Khalil Slim Haddad, immigrated to Mexico at the age of 14 in 1902 and changed his first name to Julian. As it was not uncommon for Lebanese children to be sent abroad before they reached the age of 15 to avoid being conscripted into the Ottoman army, four of Haddad's older brothers were already living in Mexico at the time of his arrival.
Carlos Slim's mother, Linda Helú, was born inParral, Chihuahua, of Lebanese parents who had immigrated to Mexico in the late 19th century. Her parents upon immigrating to Mexico had founded one of the first Arabic language magazines for the Lebanese-Mexican community, using a printing press they had brought with them.
In 1911, Julián established a dry goods store, La Estrella del Oriente (The Star of the Orient). By 1921, he had purchasedreal estate in the flourishing commercial district of Mexico City. These enterprises became the source of considerable wealth.
In August 1926, Julián Slim and Linda Helú married. They had six children: Nour, Alma, Julián, José, Carlos and Linda. Julián senior, who had been influential in the Lebanese-Mexican business community, died in 1953.
Development of business interests
Slim and hissiblings 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 Autonomous 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, he foundedInmobiliaria 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 whichrented 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 that had interests in industry, construction, mining, retail, food and tobacco.
In 1982 the Mexican economy, which had a substantial reliance on oil exports, contracted rapidly as theprice of oil fell and interest rates rose worldwide. Banks and other businesses were nationalized, 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 (General Tire's trading name in Mexico), Bimex hotelsand Sanborns, a food retailer. He also acquired a 40% interest in the Mexican arm of British American Tobacco and 50% of that of Hershey'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...