Biography and success story of Carlos Slim Helu. Biography of Carlos Slim Elu Carlos Slim Elu how he became rich

Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu has achieved the almost impossible - he has pushed Americans out of the top ranks of the ranking of the world's richest people. Experts estimate that Carlos Slim's personal wealth amounts to 8% of Mexico's gross economic product.

The famous Mexican businessman Carlos Slim Helu has held the honorary title of the richest man in the world for several years. This billionaire was able to take this place, beating the Americans, but no one had done this for 16 years.

Research by Forbes magazine suggests that Carlos Slim Helu in 2010 surpassed Bill Gates himself in terms of the value of his own business assets. By the way, the difference was small, only half a billion dollars, but this was enough to obtain the status of the richest person on Earth.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that Carlos Slim Helu's personal net worth is about eight percent of Mexico's gross domestic product. The numbers are impressive, and you can’t argue with that.

The life story of Carlos Slim has long become mystical in his homeland. Almost all Mexicans have at least once heard the fairy tale that the poor son of a Libyan immigrant could become a powerful autocrat who currently possesses countless treasures. However, in reality, things were not always so rosy and cloudless.

Carlos Slim Helu was born on January 28, 1940. His father once immigrated from Libya, and his mother was the daughter of a successful Libyan merchant, who resignedly followed her husband. In this simple way, Julian Slim, Carlos's father, wanted to escape from serving in the army of the Ottoman Empire. The family came to Mexico in 1902.

Julian had good business acumen, and therefore, having arrived at a new place, he decided to open a real estate business. After working until 1920, Carlos' father bought a building located in the business part of Mexico City and opened a supermarket in it. Julian's trading business developed successfully.

Gradually, he involved all six children in the business, and constantly demanded talent, diligence and devotion from them. For their work, the children received good pocket money, and therefore learned to manage with special zeal. Carlos's business sense was evident literally in the first grade. The teenager was interested in stock investing, and having fully mastered all the rules of this work, he managed to make his first million at the age of seventeen.

Without giving up investing and working in this direction, Karl successfully studied at the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. As a final year student, he began teaching algebra, as well as the relatively new science of linear programming. In 1961, Carlos Slim Helu received a diploma, but did not want to work in his specialty.

Carlos decided to invest the significant capital that he managed to accumulate in the development of the insurance business. In addition, he bought the Sanborns chain of hotels and stores, and made the cost of goods and services affordable for ordinary Mexicans with average incomes. The capitalization of his business constantly increased due to the fact that he used his irreplaceable strategy - buy goods cheaply, update or improve them, and then sell them at a higher price.

In 1982, Mexico was unable to pay its foreign debt and therefore officially defaulted. This, naturally, led to a large-scale economic crisis, in which investors tried to get rid of solid assets for pennies. Carlos Slim took advantage of this panic situation, and during the crisis he was able to buy many promising companies. This is how the investment holding Carso Group ended up in his hands.

He then became interested in ore and coal mining, and this activity soon became part of a diversified syndicate of the Carso Group. Over time, Carlos was able to make his Frisco company a leader in the national mining industry, and open another promising industry - the chemical industry.

In the late eighties, the number of companies in the Carso Group syndicate increased so much that almost every second resident of Mexico regularly encountered them every day in certain conditions.

Carlos Slim was able to acquire not only economic, but also political assets. The competent management of these assets was made possible thanks to his extensive knowledge. He established close contacts with many high-ranking officials and representatives of the Mexican government. His friendship with Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari was especially valuable.

Detractors say that Slim used his connections with officials for his own gain, in particular, during the privatization of the Telmex telephone company. The details of the cooperation between the president and the entrepreneur were known only to them, but throughout the presidential term this relationship caused a storm of indignation.

Such a blow to his reputation did not upset Carlos Slim Helu too much, and the construction of his financial empire continued. For five years, he carried out organizational measures that made it possible to streamline the work of the empire. No crisis could break this colossus, which guaranteed 10 billion annual turnover and about a billion net profit.

In the nineties, Slim's company received a monopoly in the telephone market. Soon the sphere of providing Internet services was also developed. Despite the fact that computer technology was always alien to Carlos Slim, he was able to understand computers and found this area to be very promising.

The entrepreneur is constantly worried about expanding his business outside of Mexico. Thanks to his competent work, his company currently occupies a dominant position in the telecommunications market throughout Latin America.

Analyzing the success story of Carlos Slim Helu, we can highlight several secrets of this man’s popularity. He was not the heir to millions, but he always had a stable income. His current status is a personal achievement, largely based on business acumen, hard work and entrepreneurial talent. This person is known for his frugality and modest lifestyle.

Oligarch Carlos Slim Helu, having combined his diverse assets into the holding company Grupo Carso, not only became the most famous and influential person in Mexico, but also entered the world ranking of billionaires in 2002. Displacing the Americans from the TOP places, he took 1st place in the Forbes ranking for 4 years. Despite the partial depreciation of assets and losses amounting to billions, he was able to stay in the top ten and continue his investment and philanthropic activities.

Dossier:

FULL NAME: Carlos Slim Helu (Spanish: Carlos Slim Helú)
Date of Birth: January 28, 1940
Education: National University of Mexico, civil engineer
Date of start of business activity/age: 1952 / 12 years old
Type of activity at start: investment activity, acquisition of shares of a Mexican bank
Current activity: communications industry, holding company Grupo Carso
Current state:$68.2 billion (August 2017, author)
Link to official website: http://www.carlosslim.com

For most Mexicans, the success story of Carlos Slim Helu is akin to a fairy-tale legend in which the main character, being the fifth child in a large family of Lebanese emigrants, mystically topped the Forbes list.

Carlos Slim Helu managed to earn his first million at the age of 17. And this was not the result of a happy accident, but of incredible hard work, determination and devotion to the ideals instilled by his father. Having an incredible entrepreneurial flair, phenomenal memory and loyalty not only to his business, but also to his family, the businessman confidently opened the “doors to success” in various fields of activity.

His fabulous fortune was built up brick by brick: mining and chemical industry enterprises, hotel and insurance businesses, companies related to construction and trade formed the basis of the Grupo Carso holding group.

“My goal is not money. I strive to create successful companies with a close-knit team,” - K. Slim Elu

A decisive role both in the formation of a multi-billion dollar fortune and in the devaluation of Carlos Slim Helu’s business was played by telecommunications companies, which became his property, despite the entrepreneur’s dislike of computer and digital technologies.

And even being the richest man in the world, the billionaire did not strive for public fame, not wanting to discuss the milestones of his biography and not being interested in the opinions of others.

“I don't care about my reputation. If you live in other people's thoughts, you are dead. I don’t want to live the rest of my life worrying about what my descendants will say about me,” - K. Slim Elu

But his devotion to family traditions, generous philanthropy and views on work schedules and retirement age continue to shock and delight.

Despite his advanced age and heart surgery, the Mexican oligarch remains at the helm of his financial empire and firmly holds a position in the top 10 Forbes.

Table 1. Carlos Slim Helu in the Forbes world ranking

		Wealth, billion $











August 2017

Source: forbes.com

Children's financial literacy is the foundation of a billion-dollar fortune

Little Carlos was looking forward to Friday, carefully counting the numbers in his notebook. After all, the evening in the large family of Julian Slim, a Lebanese refugee who successfully settled in Mexico in 1902, was usually devoted to literacy lessons.

The three sons told their father in detail about their expenses and income, drew conclusions and learned to analyze, carefully listening to the mentor’s recommendations.

"I still ask a lot of questions" - K. Slim Elu

By the time his fifth child, Carlos, was born in 1940, Julian was already firmly on his feet, owning his own supermarket and commercial real estate in Mexico City, acquired in the 20s. Hiding from conscription into the Ottoman army, he was forced to flee his native land. In Mexico, the father of the future billionaire, given his nationality, was forced to look for ways to support his family. Starting from the founding of a grocery store, he was later able to engage in real estate business, strengthen his position in trade and become a fairly influential person in the Mexican economy.

“Expats have to work very hard, but they are very strong inside. They must be strong. I admire emigrants from anywhere in the world." - K. Slim Elu

Well aware of the consequences of revolutions and crises, Julian began to involve children in work from early childhood. Without saving on “pocket expenses,” he demanded detailed reports from them.

The grains of knowledge thrown into the fertile soil gave early and strong shoots. Carlos understood perfectly well that there was no point in hoping for an inheritance in such a large family. And while still a child, he began to act. It remains a mystery how a 12-year-old child was able to independently open an account and invest his own money in shares of Banco National de Mexico. Most likely, the deal was supervised by the father-entrepreneur. But a year later, the boy was left alone with his business ideas, his father’s inheritance and his wealth of financial knowledge.

Continuing to invest money on the stock exchange, by the age of 17 the guy managed to earn his first million.

You need to be proud of yourself when you have already achieved something. When you have just started doing something, this is not a reason to be proud. Show the result” - K. Slim Helu

Financial success did not go to the head of the young self-taught entrepreneur. He enters the National University of Mexico. However, he does not spend a single cent of the money earned on stock exchange games on his studies. To pay for his education, Carlos begins teaching algebra and linear programming in parallel streams.

Time to collect stones - how Carlos's business empire was built

Having received a diploma in civil engineering in 1961, he stopped teaching and devoted his life to trading on the stock exchange. But in the future he will be happy to teach his sons.

Already in those years, the construction of a future business empire began, which was based on fundamental elements, in particular on exploitation:

the needs of the poor;
bowels;
political connections.

“In business you need to be flexible” - K. Slim Elu

For the benefit of the people

In 1965, thanks to his work as a stock broker, he acquired his first industrial companies, which allowed him to increase his own capital to $40 million. In the same year, he established his investment fund Carso Group, giving the company a name by combining the beginning of his name and the name of his wife Soumaya.

In 1966, he opens a real estate agency and increases his wealth to $55 million.

“My idea is simple: reinvest, reinvest, reinvest” - K. Slim Elu

And he invests all the accumulated funds in:

own insurance company;
the Sanborns retail chain;
hotels.

It literally saturates the market with goods and services available to low-income Mexicans.

Crisis - platform to take off

The financial crisis of the 80s in Mexico, associated with the declared default, caused the ruin of many domestic companies and the outflow of investors.

“Don't look at others, act your own way. When the crisis began and everyone was selling their assets, I bought them. Perhaps someone then considered me a fool, but where are they now, and where am I? - K. Slim Elu

He massively buys companies that he considers attractive for next to nothing.

Mining enterprises also fall into the sphere of interests of the businessman, which later formed the basis of the new successful corporation Frisco, which became the industry leader in Mexico.

Friendship with those in power

By the mid-1980s, Slim's position and influence on the economy had become so strong that in certain circles they began to call Mexico "Slimland".

“I think that businessmen and entrepreneurs have more experience in resource management and it is easier for us to solve problems than for politicians” - K. Slim Elu

It is not surprising that like-minded people unite around him when he establishes the association of industrialists “Libre Empresa SA” in Mexico, in which government structures are primarily interested.

He refuses a political career, but finances the PRI party, which became the reason for the beginning of a friendship with Carlos Salinas de Gortari, President of Mexico 1988 - 1994.

In the future, these relationships will open the door to the communications market for the enterprising Slim.

Telecommunications business

The first step in the field of communications was an open tender in 1900 during the privatization of state property, where Slim was able to acquire the telecommunications company Telefonos de Mexico. The deal caused a public outcry, as the corporation practically received a monopoly on managing government telecommunications for the next 7 years.

But the proceedings were hushed up, which was due, as it turned out later, to Carlos’s close cooperation with the president of the country.

Despite the advancement in the field of communications, until a certain time the millionaire avoided computer technology, experiencing an almost pathological fear of it.

“I spend most of my time learning new technologies. I need to know what’s going on in the world and how I can make money from it,” - K. Slim Elu

But he started studying computer technology only after his sons gave him a laptop as a gift.

He became obsessed with the idea of expanding his business in this direction and did everything to acquire assets not only in Mexico, but also in other Latin American countries and in the USA.

Carlos becomes the owner:

Condumex, which produces telecommunications equipment;
Prodigy - the first Mexican provider;
American companies involved in fiber-optic networks and cellular telephony;
co-owner of Network Access Solutions - a well-known provider;
Latin American branch of AT
small telecommunications companies in Latin America.

Together with SBC Communications, he opens America Movil, which becomes a full-fledged wireless network operator.

As a result, his fortune in 2002 reaches $11 billion, which provides the billionaire with a place in the Forbes ranking. In just 4 years, capitalization increases 3 times - the Mexican oligarch gets into the top three, competing with Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.

During 2010 - 2013. The billionaire holds the position of the richest person in the world.

The rich cry too...

In 2014, Carlos Slim has a fortune of $ 72 billion, but he still concedes the top rung to Bill Gates.

Critical for the oligarch was 2016, when his wealth sharply decreased by a third. This was influenced by a number of events:

the government's antitrust reform, which caused America Movil's shares to fall 18%;
recession in Brazil, Slim's second largest market;
diversion of funds to establish the oil company Carso Oil
loss of $868 million in the stock market crisis of early 2016

As a result, the fortune of the richest billionaire fell to $50 billion, and the position in the Forbes rating dropped to 4th place.

“Whatever team you create, always make sure that there are no pessimists in it. They are the killers of all ideas, proposals and initiatives. All my life I have been sick with optimism, and this is the only thing that did not allow me to drown in a sea of failures ”, - K. Slim Elu

Owning diverse assets allows a far-sighted businessman not only to stay afloat, but also to get out of crisis situations almost painlessly. And expanding activities in strategically important areas, for example, the oil industry, will achieve even greater success.

“Unshakable and calm optimism always bears fruit” - K. Slim Elu

patronage

The statements of one of today's largest philanthropists regarding charity were categorical until a certain time.

“I love doing charity work. But if the country is in deep poverty, charity alone cannot help. To bring people above the poverty line, first of all, it is necessary to create stable jobs.”

And yet the tycoon, through his charitable foundation:

finances various social and medical programs;
sponsors youth and educational projects;
improves the center of Mexico City.

He made his passion for collecting rare things and art objects the property of ordinary people, opening a museum in her name after the death of his wife Soumaya.

For more information about the businessman’s philanthropic activities, watch the video:

Family

“A businessman cannot do only business. You must have more interests. Life offers many opportunities to know, to learn, to feel, to live." - K. Slim Emu

Carlos inherited the recipe for family happiness from his parents. Everyone's responsibility to the rest of the family is the Slims' basic philosophy. It was the love of family and its traditions that the caring father instilled in his six children.

By the way, none of the billionaire’s children received an elite education, but all of them actively take part in their father’s business.

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.

Currently, it is the sons who have become the backbone of the family business:

eldest son Carlos is chairman of the board of the telecommunications holding, Telmex and the venture capital company America Telecom;
Patrick runs America Movil;
Marco Antonio is the head of Grupo Financiero Inbursa.

Slim Sr. himself remains the honorary president of the entire empire and always has his finger on the pulse, despite his advanced age, and considers himself a fairly successful person.

“I think success is not about earning money, owning a company, or being outstandingly professional. Success is your life. Success is your family, your friends. From this point of view, I consider myself very successful,” K. Slim Emu.

The story of Carlos Slim Elu, the richest man in the world is interesting primarily because he achieved the height of his position through his work, perseverance, knowledge, faith and desire for victory.

His example is instructive, first of all, in how important a role in his life was played by the love of work and instilled by his parents.

What is the secret to the success of the richest man in the world? What needs to be done to achieve such heights? What skills and qualities do you need to develop in yourself in order to ascend to the pedestal of wealth and fame?

Let's try to figure it out together...

Carlos Slim Helu born January 28, 1940 in Mexico City. In his family of Christian immigrants from Lebanon, Carlos was the fourth of five children.

Carlos's father arrived in Mexico from Lebanon at the age of 14. He spoke absolutely no Spanish and was completely alone, but he was full of enthusiasm and energy, as well as many ideas that he wanted to bring to life.

After 9 years, in 1911, Don Julian Slim, the father of the future richest man in the world, together with his older brother founded the company La Estrella de Oriente, which means “Star of the East”, which was engaged in the sale of groceries.

It must be admitted that Carlos Slim Helu's father was a very talented and successful businessman. In just 10 years of the existence of his business, he not only made it very profitable, but also was able to purchase 11 units of commercial real estate in the very center of Mexico City, the most active and significant part of the city, with the money he earned.

What helped the Slim family become the richest?

Don Julian Slim became a famous businessman and the father of an exemplary family, into which he was able to instill a love of work, respect and moral values. Subsequently, Carlos's father Slim Elu took the position of president of the Lebanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry and was remembered primarily for making a huge contribution to the development of the Mexican economy, for which he later received citizenship of this country.

Don Julian Slim was able to instill in all his children the importance of family relationships as one of the main priorities in life. I, as the author of this blog, was very pleased to learn about this, because I myself promote family relationships as the basis for increasing well-being.

It is the family that motivates you to achieve your goals. When you know that the lives of people close to you depend 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.

I am deeply convinced that any person will be able to achieve unprecedented heights in life if he has a strong family, for the sake of which he will be ready for any heroic achievements.

First investment in...12(!) years

Future The richest man on earth received his first lessons in growing wealth in early childhood. The father gave each child a notebook and taught them to... Then they looked through the records together and analyzed everyone’s condition.

Thanks to this simple rule, the children of Don Julian Slim learned and achieved wealth.

What conclusion can be drawn from this? To become rich you need to develop your business.

The key moment should be considered the 80s, centuries passed. By that time, he was already a well-known entrepreneur in various fields. During the period from 1966 to 1980, he founded several more companies, and also acquired several large enterprises.

In 1982, Mexico plunged into a financial crisis due to the inability to pay its debts, which is why they began to rush to leave this country and withdraw their funds.

Thanks to this, I now work for myself and create such living conditions that I could only dream of before.

The secret weapon of the richest man in the world

In the early 1990s, Slim made a major deal during which he acquired the country's largest monopolist, the telecommunications company Telmex (Telefonos de Mexico).

This event may not make much of an impression on some readers, but if you find out about the financial details of the deal, you will probably ask the question “How did he do it?”

The fact is that Carlos Slim managed to buy this company for 400 million dollars while it was valued at more than 12 billion.

This deal caused a wide public outcry, prompting mass proceedings with the highest officials of the state, including the president of the country. These proceedings ended in nothing.

And here it is worth mentioning about the ability of the richest man in the world to make and maintain useful contacts. In particular, he maintained contacts with and was a sponsor of the political party PRI, which was headed by the now former President of Mexico Carlos Salinas.

It was this cooperation that allowed Carlos Slim El to provide the best conditions for his business for many years.

Carlos Slim Helu is taking over the world

At the same time, the future richest man in the world realizes that it is becoming difficult for him to conduct business within Mexico alone and decides to enter the international market.

Grupo Carso becomes a public company with an initial public offering (IPO). That is, anyone has the opportunity to buy part of the company, becoming its shareholder.

In the 2000s, Carlos Slim Helu's corporation expanded its influence in the telecommunications sector. The corporation's main assets are shares in the Latin American consortium of mobile operators America Movil, as well as in the financial company Inbursa.

From 2000 to 2007, Señor Helu continued to buy up telecommunications companies throughout Latin America. He buys assets in Brazil, Peru, Honduras, Argentina, Colombia, and El Salvador.

In 2008, Slim acquired small holdings in Citibank and The New York Times. It was reported that the businessman invested in assets that were in crisis or undervalued, established business there and resold them later.

Who is cooler: Carlos Slim Helu, Bill Gates or Warren Buffett?

In 2002, Slim El was included in Forbes magazine's list of billionaires. His fortune was estimated at 11 billion euros. Already in 2006, he ranks third with a fortune of $30 billion, second only to and.

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, and in 2009 dropped to third place, due to the fact that the Mexican businessman, due to the global financial crisis lost more than twenty billion dollars.

At the beginning of 2010, after the improvement of the situation of Slim Helu's companies, according to Forbes magazine, Carlos Slim Helu became the richest man in the world, his fortune is estimated at $53.5 billion. It comes behind him with 53 billion. In 2011, Slim Helu retains leadership, and his fortune is estimated at $74 billion.

Three most famous quotes from the richest man in the world

Family is most important

Slim Elu is a widower; his wife died in 1999, leaving Elu with six children. The eldest, Carlos Slim Domit, currently heads the board of directors of the Carso Group. Other sons, Marco Antonio and Patrick, also take part in their father's business.

Carlos Slim Elu invested a lot in his family and most importantly - not money. He managed to instill in all members the value of family relationships, respect and love for each other.

Carlos, like many of the richest people in the world, does not skimp on charity, which could become a powerful stimulus for the development of Latin America in the near future.

The richest man in the world spends enormous 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 that other people will later remember with gratitude.

Planets of Bill Gates, founder and ideological inspirer of Microsoft. Carlos Slim became the first Mexican to conquer the pyramidal top of billionaires. This became a sensation for world business, given the fact that over the past sixteen years it was done by a person without American citizenship.

How to be born a billionaire?

On January 28, 1940, the future Mexican businessman and philanthropist Carlos Slim Helu was born into 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 Carlos's father, 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 retail outlets in the business part of the capital of the Latin American state. Julian Slim passed on his management skills to his children, of whom he had six.

First investment lessons

Carlos Slim's success story begins at the age of seventeen. At that time, the young man, having the instincts of a stock investor, made his first million. Carlos Slim recalls his first lessons on profitable investing as follows: “My father forced each of us, his children, to keep a special notebook of income and expenses. Coming home from school, we wrote down all our expenses for the day. Father carefully reviewed the records and assessed each of us. These evening gatherings with the whole family over 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. The young man gets his first investment experience at the age of twelve. With the pocket money he saved, which his father gave him every day, at the age of twelve, Carlos Slim bought 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 money in profitable businesses, while still managing to study at the National Autonomous University of Mexico at the Faculty of Civil Engineering. The student’s extraordinary abilities were appreciated by the university leadership. 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 students at the university.

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

The birth of a financial empire

Carlos Slim begins his career as a stockbroker. Working 14 hours a day, in 1965 he managed to make a profit from private investments of 400 thousand dollars. This inspires Carlos to take on larger projects. This is how the brokerage company “Inversora Bursátil” appears, which becomes the foundation for the creation of a large family business.

In 1966, the future billionaire by the first letters of the name Slim Ellu and his wife Sumaya Domit Gemayel organized 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. At the end of the 60s, Carlos Slim's financial fortune reached just over $50 million.

Carlos Slim: biography of the 70s

Thanks to smart investing, Carlos Slim's financial well-being is growing every year. By 1972, he acquired seven more enterprises, mainly production of construction equipment. In 1976, Slim became 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 Galas de Mexico company belonged to him. The focus of Carlos Slim's growing business in subsequent years was:

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

Growing financial power

In 1982, the Mexican economy experienced a financial crisis. Banking activities were collapsing, some went bankrupt, others were looking for sources of financing. The foreign investor turned his back on the Latin American state, many commercial projects had to be closed, and companies suffered multimillion-dollar losses.

However, Carlos' keen investment eye strictly monitored companies that could generate profits in the future. Buying assets at reduced prices, Slim ultimately had quite solid income thanks to successful reinvestment.

In 1985, at the height 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.

Master of Telecommunications

In the early 90s, Carlos Slim significantly increased 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 from a company known only to Latin America is growing into a global brand. The further chronology of events is also impressive:

America is ahead!

In 1999, Carlos Slim's gaze turns towards the United States of America. Expanding his business interests beyond Latin America, the billionaire is targeting overseas investments from his northern neighbor. Soon, Carlos Slim achieves some success and becomes a prominent figure on the American business scene.

In 2002, the famous Forbes magazine included him in the list of billionaires, estimating Carlos Slim's total fortune at $11 billion. Since 2003, he has managed to buy large blocks of shares in a number of large American retailers. In 2006, behind only Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, Carlos Slim came in third place with a capital of $30 billion.

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

Personal life

The billionaire has been happily married for 32 years. His only love was Soumai Domit Gemayel, a girl of Lebanese origin 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 to create a legal framework for organ donation, a project that was financed by Carlos Slim. Family meant a lot to the Mexican tycoon.

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 the coronary vessels. The main thing that Sumaya Domit Gemayel and Carlos Slim managed to do in this life were their children: Carlos, Marco Antonio, Patrick, Sumaya, Vanessa and Johanna.

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

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

Real estate

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

In addition, over the 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 at 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.

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

Charity

Slim has always been ironic about philanthropy, criticizing Warren Buffett and Bill Gates for their annual 5 percent contributions to various charitable foundations.

He said: “I am not God or Santa Claus, so that by helping the poor I can 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: “I finally realized that after death I will not be able to take my billions with me.”

Today, Carlos Slim's fund has $4 billion in its account. Slim's foundation donated $100 million to the national Laptop for a Child program. The charity's idea is to provide every schoolchild in Mexico with a personal computer. Carlos also responded to US President Bill Clinton's idea of fighting poverty in Latin America.

Recognition of merit

Carlos Slim's long entrepreneurial career has not gone unnoticed:

1985 Entrepreneurial Medal of Honor from the Mexican Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
1991 "Golden Patron" from the American Academy of Achievement.
1998 Order of Leopold II from the Belgian government.
2003-2004. "Best CEO" badge from a Latin trade magazine.
2008 National Order of the Cedar from the Lebanese government.
2011. The Hispanic Society of America honors Carlos Slim with the Sorolla Medal for his contributions to art and culture.
year 2012. "Honorary Doctor" from George Washington University (USA).

Tips from a tycoon

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

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

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

July 31, 2015, 11:13 pm

Carlos Slim Helu expressed the opinion that people should work only three days a week, devoting 10-11 hours a day to work. People should spend four days off with their families, taking care of their health and education. At the same time, 75-year-old Carlos Slim is sure that now people are retiring too early. We must allow them to work fully until they are 70 years old, and for those who feel strong enough, even longer. Three days - work, four - rest and do other things.

Carlos Slim Helu was born on January 28, 1940 in Mexico City. He was the fifth child in a Lebanese Catholic family. His father, Julian Slim, came to Mexico in 1902 to escape compulsory conscription into the army of the Ottoman Empire.

Of all the children, Carlos was the smartest, most talented and diligent. In addition, the boy had a knack for mathematics, which helped him get into investing. Carlos made his first “adult” investments at the age of 12, purchasing shares of a Mexican bank. And Carlos Slim Elu earned his first million 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. During his senior year, Carlos taught algebra and programming to students from other courses.

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

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

Slim's influence on the Mexican economy becomes such that every Mexican encounters his companies or products. At this time, Slim begins his ascent to the heights of political Olympus. True, Slim does not go directly into politics, preferring to establish and maintain good relations with the authorities.

Carlos Slim continued to explore the promising telecommunications market. In the late 90s and early 2000s, Slim became the owner of 30 percent of the shares of the Latin American consortium of cellular operators America Movil. In 2008, he acquired shares in The New York Times and Citibank. In 2002, he acquired the liabilities of bankrupt WorldCom at a bargain price and became the largest shareholder of MCI, which was formed in its place.

Personal life and family

In 1966, Carlos Slim married a girl named Somaia Domit Germayel, who was also of Lebanese origin and was the cousin of former Lebanese President Gemayel.

He lived happily with her for 32 years until her death in 1999.

Museum named after his late wife

Glamor magazines continue to seriously call Carlos Slim “the most desirable widower” in Mexico. However, he is not attracted by glamorous fame, and he is indifferent to young beauties.
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 grandchildren, get together to spend a few weeks somewhere on the beach in the Gulf of California.

The love of family 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 the basis of the Slim family philosophy. It was this feeling that helped Carlos Slim become the richest man in the world. Over the next 25 years, the wealthy and influential Slim family could become an extremely positive factor in the development of Latin America.

Carlos has 6 children, three sons and three daughters.

The eldest son, Carlos Slim Domit (born 1967), is the chairman of the holding company Grupo Carso.