Forbes Ranking #1
Wealth: $53.5 billion
Citizenship: Mexico
Residence: Mexico
Source of Wealth: Telmex, América Móvil
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Carlos Slim Helu
The richest man in the world has been Carlos Slim in 2010 a Billionaire by only .5 Billion dollars more than Bill Gates, another Billionaire who is the second richest man in the world. Carlos Slim, a self made Billionaire is estimated by Forbes to have a net worth of 53.5 billion dollars. Bill Gates has 53 billion dollars as estimated by Forbes. It is common knowledge that Billionaire, Bill Gates made his money with Microsoft software for personal computers and high tech, which made him a top billionaire long before his current age of 54
Billionaire Carlos Slim was born in Mexico on January 28, 1940. At 70 he still lives in Mexico City, where he attended the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico and studied engineering, earning a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences. His father, Yusuf Salim Haddad, was from Lebanon, and started a magazine for the Lebanese community in Mexico. His mother, Linda Helu was also of Lebanese decent. Billionaire Carlos Slim, one of six children, was worth $40 million at the tender age of 26.
Billionaire Carlos Slim describes as his financial success as in his ability to seek out under valued companies, acquire them and make them profitable. Billionaire Carlos Slim owns Telefonos de Mexico (Telmex). The privatization of formerly government controlled and owned telecommunications companies in 1990, was Billioniare Carlos Slim’s highly successful, first attempt at making his fortune.
The Billionaire Carlos Slim came under much criticism for how he structured the rates of Telmex. He was accused of raising the cost of phone calls soon after he purchased the company and other telecommunications companies. His actions to raise rates were not completely profit motivated. He used the funding to make infrastructure improvements. Regarding the corporate structure of the acquisitions of Billionaire Carlos Slim, their successful management accounts for his success. Billionaire Carlos Slim says that by compacting and setting up the corporate structure with a reduction of management levels to as few as possible is the key to success. This is preferable to installing a new more complicated administration, when taking over a company. Carlos Slim also says that having the executives as close to the operations level as possible will make the company profitable.
Carlos Slim did not make his fortune with high tech. He has had a gift for recognizing the future value of companies that have yet to reach that potential by restructuring them and then letting them grow and prosper. Slim admits to having few or no computer skills, but he recognizes that the Internet and technology are areas for extensive business growth. In Mexico, he is the owner of the largest Internet Service Provider. He also has acquired Prodigy, which is a major ISP in the United States. Carlos Slim is also the owner of CompUSA and more than 200 retail affiliates in the USA and Puerto Rico.
The Billionaire is considered a Telecom magnate who seized the day when Mexico gave up control of the telephone system. Eventually he was authorized to merge the fixed-line assets into America Movil, the largest Latin American mobile phone service provider. He is also heavily invested in construction with his Impulsora Del Desarrollo y el Empleo, which are responsible for building roads and infrastructure for energy service providers. Some other sources of his wealth are his investments in the financial entity, Imbursa. He owns Bronco Drilling. There have been rumors that his interest in the Independent News & Media, Saks New York Times Co, not yet a controlling interest, would be converted to a controlling stake. He has not confirmed this information.