Mr. Helu, whom the Christian Science Monitor weirdly described as "the portly cigar-smoker", is the first man from a developing country to become Richest Man In The World. That's another way of saying Carlos Slim Helu is the first person of color to top the Forbes billionaire list.
How Carlos Slim Helu got there is by purchasing a controlling interest in Telmex in 1990, along with a group of investors, and used that to leverage the buying of as many telecom companies in Mexico and Latin America as possible. Now, his family owns 90 percent of Mexico's telephone lines and 80 percent of its cellphone. He's used that to finance his business operations around the World.
Carlos Slim Helu owns almost 7 percent of The New York Times and in 2009 gave the Times Company a $250 million loan. He's reportedly happy with his stake in the company and has no plans to increase it.
Stay tuned for updates.
Comments