Net Worth of Multi Billionaire Carlos Slim Helu
birth date | January 28, 1940 (83 years old) |
Born in | Mexico City, Mexico |
nationality | Mexico |
Profession | entrepreneur, investor |
Full name | Carlos Slim Helu |
Children | 4 |
How rich is Carlos Slim Helu?
Carlos Slim is without a doubt one of the richest people in the world . However, there is something that sets him apart from many other billionaires. Because the Mexican entrepreneur has a different view of how money can be used to work for the common good. While billionaires like Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and financial mogul Warren Buffet have publicly pledged to donate around 99% of their wealth to a good cause over the course of their lives, the Mexican doesn’t want to do exactly that. That’s not to say Carlos Slim is greedy, though. Rather, he thinks that these funds should be used to create jobs and should therefore remain in the companies.
An incredible fortune through the telecom industry
With his numerous companies, Carlos Slim Helu has become rich, especially in the telecommunications industry . In 2007, the magazine Sentido Común even announced according to its own estimates that the billionaire was the richest person in the world . At that time it was still worth 67.8 billion US dollars. Since then, the entrepreneur has already had to give up part of his fortune, which, given his prosperity, is unlikely to make any difference. However, it must have annoyed the Mexican businessman that he was one of the absolute losers in 2015. Because from January to December, its value fell by a whopping $21.9 billion due to falling stock prices. Stocks have recovered. Carlos Slim Helu’s net worth is currently estimated at €82.62 billion . So now Slim is only the fifth richest man in the world. The following gentlemen are currently in front of him on the list of the super-rich:
• Bill Gates
• Amancio Ortega
• Warren Buffett
• Jeff Bezos
Carlos Slim owes his prosperity to more than 300 million mobile phone customers who rely on the entrepreneur’s telecommunications services, especially in Central and South America. With his company America Movil, the billionaire is represented in 19 countries. However, the Mexican government wants to thwart the entrepreneur’s plans. Because its market share in the domestic mobile communications market is 70 percent. However, the Mexican government now wants to ensure that no single company can control more than 50 percent of the market. However, the smart investor has already looked for alternative ways and means of expanding his assets even further. Because Carlos Slim also wants to become active in Spain and is busy trying to win oil production contracts from the Mexican government. He is and remains the businessman, in whose footsteps his three sons, who also work for their father’s telecommunications company, are following.
The life of Mexican multi-billionaire Carlos Slim
Incidentally, the Slims’ family history didn’t start out quite so rosy. Because Carlos Slim’s father had to flee Lebanon as a teenager and then ended up in Mexico, where he also gave himself a different name. So Slim is the new family name that Carlo’s father adopted at this point. His father also had a strong business acumen and quickly set up his own shop, using the profits to buy cheap real estate in Mexico City. This turned out to be an excellent investment, and after a short time the Slim family was financially very well off. Carlos Slim’s father had gone from being a humble refugee to quite a wealthy man. When his father died, Carlos used part of his fortune to appear as an investor.
Carlos Slim quickly rose through the ranks and bought a chain of tobacconists and a well-known chain of pharmacies, gift shops and restaurants called Sanborns. The current billionaire entered the telecommunications business in 1990. Many critics rumor that corruption was involved. Because when Telmex, the state telecommunications group, was privatized, Slim is said to have paid a price that was far too low for the company. At the same time, Slim’s monopoly was further favored by this measure. Of course, this circumstance also drew criticism from the entrepreneur. After all, Carlos Slim’s fortune alone accounts for 5 percent of the total annual economic output of his entire home country. In addition, telephone charges are higher in Mexico than in almost any other country in the world, although Mexicans do not earn more than 14,500 US dollars per year on average at the same time. Therefore, one may well ask the question whether Carlos Slim is not driven by sheer greed.