Mexican self-made tycoon Slim named as world's richest person
By Mark Stevenson |
March 12, 2010, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
MEXICAN telecom tycoon Carlos Slim is the first man from a developing nation to become the world's richest person, a shift that underlines the loosening of America and Europe's stranglehold on the top spots in the billionaires' club.
China is second on the countries' list, with 64 billionaires on its mainland.
With a recovery in the value of his cell-phone holdings pushing his estimated fortune to US$53.5 billion, Slim jumped past Microsoft founder Bill Gates and investor Warren Buffett when Forbes magazine released its 2010 list of the world's wealthiest on Wednesday.
The rise of Slim, the 70-year-old son of an immigrant shopkeeper, was just a part of the emergence of billionaires in developing countries, Forbes reporter Keren Blankfeld said. She noted this year's top 10 richest also included two billionaires from India and one from Brazil.
"They're kind of spread. It's a nice spread," Blankfeld said of the list.
The full list showed China's Taiwan tripling its number of billionaires to 18, Turkey more than doubling to 28, and Brazil increasing by 50 percent to 18. Russia also rebounded, almost doubling its number of billionaires to 62 after stock markets there recovered from severe setbacks.
Still, it is hardly time to mark the passing of United States dominance: The number of American billionaires rose by more than 40 to 403.
Ever-present presence
Slim's conglomerate of retail, telecom, manufacturing and construction companies so dominate the Mexican commercial landscape it is often easy for Mexicans to find themselves talking over a Slim-operated cell phone at a Slim-owned shopping center waiting to pay a bill to a Slim-owned company at a Slim-owned bank. If the line is too long, they can catch a quick coffee at a Slim-owned restaurant.
His Telmex phone company controls 83 percent of land lines in Mexico and is the leading Internet service provider.
Another of his firms is the top cell phone operator. Slim also owns the Sears and Saks retail stores in Mexico. Last year, he announced a US$250 million investment in The New York Times.
Arturo Elias Ayub, the billionaire's son-in-law who is an executive at Telmex, welcomed Slim's arrival at the top.
"The reaction is one of satisfaction, that this confidence in Mexico exists, and this confidence in our group's companies," said Elias Ayub.
But he said Slim was not breaking out the champagne. "This is a number brought out by a magazine that doesn't concern us, or worry us," Elias Ayub said, echoing Slim's 2007 comment about the top spot that had eluded him for years: a Spanish phrase - me es impermeable - that translates as "I'm impervious to that."
Slim is known for wearing inexpensive suits and rarely using computers, preferring old-style paper notebooks. A baseball fan, his indulgences are largely limited to cigars and diet soft drinks.
China is second on the countries' list, with 64 billionaires on its mainland.
With a recovery in the value of his cell-phone holdings pushing his estimated fortune to US$53.5 billion, Slim jumped past Microsoft founder Bill Gates and investor Warren Buffett when Forbes magazine released its 2010 list of the world's wealthiest on Wednesday.
The rise of Slim, the 70-year-old son of an immigrant shopkeeper, was just a part of the emergence of billionaires in developing countries, Forbes reporter Keren Blankfeld said. She noted this year's top 10 richest also included two billionaires from India and one from Brazil.
"They're kind of spread. It's a nice spread," Blankfeld said of the list.
The full list showed China's Taiwan tripling its number of billionaires to 18, Turkey more than doubling to 28, and Brazil increasing by 50 percent to 18. Russia also rebounded, almost doubling its number of billionaires to 62 after stock markets there recovered from severe setbacks.
Still, it is hardly time to mark the passing of United States dominance: The number of American billionaires rose by more than 40 to 403.
Ever-present presence
Slim's conglomerate of retail, telecom, manufacturing and construction companies so dominate the Mexican commercial landscape it is often easy for Mexicans to find themselves talking over a Slim-operated cell phone at a Slim-owned shopping center waiting to pay a bill to a Slim-owned company at a Slim-owned bank. If the line is too long, they can catch a quick coffee at a Slim-owned restaurant.
His Telmex phone company controls 83 percent of land lines in Mexico and is the leading Internet service provider.
Another of his firms is the top cell phone operator. Slim also owns the Sears and Saks retail stores in Mexico. Last year, he announced a US$250 million investment in The New York Times.
Arturo Elias Ayub, the billionaire's son-in-law who is an executive at Telmex, welcomed Slim's arrival at the top.
"The reaction is one of satisfaction, that this confidence in Mexico exists, and this confidence in our group's companies," said Elias Ayub.
But he said Slim was not breaking out the champagne. "This is a number brought out by a magazine that doesn't concern us, or worry us," Elias Ayub said, echoing Slim's 2007 comment about the top spot that had eluded him for years: a Spanish phrase - me es impermeable - that translates as "I'm impervious to that."
Slim is known for wearing inexpensive suits and rarely using computers, preferring old-style paper notebooks. A baseball fan, his indulgences are largely limited to cigars and diet soft drinks.
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