Lebanon (1) -- Analyses -- 2010

More about Slim

10.03.2010

Carlos Slim (born January 28, 1940), is a Mexican engineer, businessman and philanthropist largely focused on the telecommunications industry. He controls Telefonos de Mexico (Telmex), Telcel and America Movil companies.
Though he maintains an active involvement in his companies, his three sons — Carlos, Marco Antonio and Patrick Slim Domit — head them on a day-to-day basis. Slim was born in Mexico City, Mexico.His father, Julian Slim Haddad, arrived in Mexico in 1902 from Lebanon, alone at 14 years of age and speaking no Spanish. He fled the Ottoman Empire, which at the time conscripted young men into its army, causing mothers to send their sons to exile before turning fifteen. Carlos Slim's mother, Linda Helu, was born in Parral, Chihuahua. She was the daughter of Jose Helu and Wadiha Atta, Lebanese immigrants who arrived in Mexico at the end of the 19th century. They brought the first Arabic printing press to Mexico, and founded one of the first magazines for the Lebanese community in the country. In 1911, Julian established a dry goods store called La Estrella del Oriente (The Eastern Star) and purchased real estate in downtown Mexico City. In August 1926, Julian Slim and Linda Helu married in Mexico City. They had six children, of whom Carlos was the youngest son. Julian died in 1952.
Slim studied engineering at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. By the time he was 26 years old, his net worth was $40 million. He married Soumaya Domit Gemayel, also a Lebanese-Mexican, in 1967. They had six children and were married for 32 years until Domit died of a kidney ailment in 1999. The youngest of their three daughters, Johanna, is married to Arturo Elias Ayub, a board member of some of Slim's companies.
On August 4, 2007, The Wall Street Journal ran a cover story profiling Slim. The article said, "While the market value of his stake in publicly traded companies could decline at any time, at the moment he is probably wealthier than Bill Gates". On March 29, 2007, Slim surpassed Warren Buffett as the world's second richest person with an estimated net worth of US$53.1 billion compared to Buffett's US$52.4 billion. According to The Wall Street Journal, Slim credits part of his ability to discover investment opportunities early to the writings of his friend, futurist author Alvin Toffler.
On August 8, 2007, Fortune reported that Slim had overtaken Gates as the world's richest man. Slim's estimated fortune soared to US$59 billion, based on the value of his public holdings the end of July. Gates' net worth was estimated to be at least US$58 billion. On March 5, 2008, Forbes ranked Slim as the world's second-richest person, behind Warren Buffett and ahead of Bill Gates. On March 11, 2009, Forbes ranked Slim as the world's third-richest person, behind Gates and Buffett and ahead of Lawrence Ellison.

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