Carlos Slim Helu

When you live for others' opinions, you are dead.
I don't want to live thinking about how I'll be remembered

- Carlos Slim Helu
Entrepreneur : - Carlos Slim Helu
Company : - Telmex, America Movil and Grupo Carso

Carlos Slim Helu, the richest man in the world, according to Forbes magazine's list of billionaires 2013, was
born on January 28, 1940, in Mexico City to a family of Lebanese Christian immigrants. From an early age, Helu's
father taught him to learn and understand finance. When other children grew up with coloring books and crayons,
Carlos and his siblings were given ledgers to record their allowance expenses. Carlos showed an early and
exceptional aptitude for numbers and by the time he was 12-years old, he was buying shares in the Bank of Mexico.
Today, the 74-year old the Mexican telecom magnate Slim kept the No. 1 spot for the four consecutive years by
increasing his worth by $20.5 billion to $74 billion in 2013. How did this mild mannered son of immigrants build up
such a large and unfathomable fortune?
Carlos studied civil engineering at the Autonomous National University of Mexico, where he began teaching math
and programming while still a student. While still in his early 20s, Helu started his first business venture, a stock
brokerage called Inversora Bursatil. Carlos followed his father's rules of thrift and financial responsibility and even as
his family and income grew, he continued to live modestly, choosing instead to re-invest his earnings in expanding
his businesses, acquiring more businesses, and growing his holding group, Grupo Carso. Carlos sought out companies
he believed were undervalued. His strength was in identifying these businesses and then overhauling their
management to make the company more profitable.
When Mexico plunged into an economic crisis in 1982, Slim's confidence did not waver. While the Mexican
government defaulted on foreign debts and many Mexican investors rushed to divest themselves, Carlos went out
and acquired the Mexican affiliates of Reynolds Aluminum, General Tire and Sanborns' retail stores and cafeterias.
Slim knew the economy would recover, and through skilful movements and patience, weathered the storm. When
the Mexican economy did recover, Slim saw his fortune grow exponentially. Did he slow down and enjoy his wealth?
Of course not! He went out and then acquired the Mexican rights for a number of U.S.-based brands. In 1990, Slim
proceeded to purchase the state's telephone company, Telmex. This took off immediately and grew by 66% every
year for the next 15 years. Slim grabbed foreign-owned cellular companies in 2000 dot.com bust, combining cell
services in an industry and market he understood better than anyone else.
Slim called this new company America Movil and it soon became the largest wireless services provider in Latin
America. By 2007, Slim's group of companies was valued at around $150 billion. It was that year that Slim first passed
Bill Gates to become the richest person in the world with a fortune of $59 billion. He was the first richest person in
the world in 16 years that was not from the United States.
Slim uses his fortune to endow a number of charities, museums, and educational projects. In 2007, he gave an
additional endowment of $4 billion to expand the Carso Foundation's efforts to build infrastructure, promote
education and reduce poverty, not only in Mexico, but throughout Latin America. The Telmex Foundation is one of

the largest philanthropic institutions in Latin America. In addition to contributions to services in health, nutrition,
conservation and disaster relief, it has provided university scholarships for hundreds of thousands of students who
would otherwise be unable to attain a higher education.
Carlos Slim Helu's family is a close-knit group. They have a large family dinner together every Monday night. He
remains as frugal as his father taught him to be, living in the same modest six bedroom home he has lived in for the
past three decades. Carlos still drives himself to work every day.
Although Slim maintains an active involvement in his companies, he is devoting more of his time to his philanthropic
pursuits. On a personal note, Slim is a baseball nut who roots for the New York Yankees. In fact, in 1998 he wrote an
article on obscure historical baseball figures for a Mexico City magazine.
As of September 12th, 2013, Carlos Slim is worth $72.1 billion, which is equivalent to 7% of Mexico's GDP. To put this
in perspective, for Bill Gates to have that same kind of percentage of the U.S. economy, he'd have to be worth $909
billion.

By:- Ritesh Chanana

Bibliography

http://www.carlosslim.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/
http://www.achievement.org/

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When you live for others' opinions, you are dead.

I don't want to live thinking about how I'll be remembered

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