How Carlos built the fortune
Carlos Slim Helú started as a stock trader and dealmaker in Mexico City in the 1960s, and his method stayed remarkably consistent for decades: buy established businesses when they are cheap, cut costs, and hold them for the long term. During the debt crisis of 1982, when many investors fled Mexico, he bought stakes in tobacco, mining, retail, insurance and manufacturing companies at low prices. Those holdings were gathered under Grupo Carso, a conglomerate whose name joins the first syllables of his own name and that of his wife, Soumaya.
The turning point came in 1990, when the Mexican government sold control of the state telephone monopoly Teléfonos de México. A consortium led by Grupo Carso, with Southwestern Bell and France Télécom as partners, won the auction. Telmex kept a dominant position in fixed lines for years, and its mobile arm, Telcel, grew quickly as cell phones spread across the country.
In 2000 the wireless operations were spun off as América Móvil, which then expanded across Latin America, mostly under the Claro brand. Through acquisitions in Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Central America and elsewhere, it became one of the largest mobile operators in the world by subscribers. The family's controlling interest in América Móvil remains the core of the Slim fortune, while competition rules introduced by Mexico's 2013 telecom reform have pushed the company to adjust its home market business.
Companies and holdings
Slim's interests are held largely through family controlled companies, with his sons and sons in law running day to day operations. The main pieces include:
- América Móvil, the telecom group that operates Telcel in Mexico and Claro in much of Latin America, and which absorbed Telmex.
- Grupo Carso, with businesses in retail (Sanborns), industrial manufacturing, construction and energy.
- Grupo Financiero Inbursa, a bank and insurance group.
- Real estate in Mexico City, including the Torre Latinoamericana tower in the historic centre.
Outside Mexico, he lent money to The New York Times Company in 2009, when the publisher needed cash, and later exercised warrants that made him its largest outside shareholder for a period. He has also held stakes in companies in Europe and the United States, among them the Spanish builder FCC and the Austrian telecom operator Telekom Austria.
Early life and career
Slim was born in Mexico City in 1940. His father, Julián Slim Haddad, had emigrated from Lebanon as a teenager and built a dry goods business and a property portfolio in the city centre, and he taught his children to keep careful accounts from an early age. Carlos studied civil engineering at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where he also taught algebra and linear programming while still a student.
After graduating he set up a brokerage, Inversora Bursátil, and a property company, and he began buying small businesses such as a bottling plant and a construction firm. He married Soumaya Domit in 1967. The couple had six children; Soumaya died in 1999, and the family museum is named in her memory. Slim has said repeatedly that he prefers managing through clear numbers and frugal operations, and he became known for working from modest offices and avoiding lavish personal spending.
Philanthropy and public life
Much of Slim's giving goes through the Carlos Slim Foundation, created in 1986, which funds health programmes, education, scholarships, digital learning and the restoration of Mexico City's historic centre. He has also financed projects with international partners in public health research. He has stated publicly that he prefers creating jobs and investing to large one off donations, an approach that has attracted both praise and criticism.
The Museo Soumaya, which he opened in 1994, holds a large collection of European art, including one of the biggest groups of Rodin sculptures outside France. In 2011 it moved into a distinctive building in the Plaza Carso development and offers free admission. Slim gives occasional press conferences in which he talks about the economy, productivity and his view that retirement ages should be raised. His children now lead the companies, while he remains an influential voice in their strategy.