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 Business News | September 2007 
Mexican Billionaire Aids the Poor
 Jenny Arvanaghi - The Cowl
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 |  | Wealth is like an orchard. You have to share the fruit, not the trees.
- Carlos Slim |  | |
According to Fortune magazine and The Wall Street Journal, Carlos Slim is the richest man in the world as of August 2007. 67-year-old Slim controls a major telecommunications company in Mexico. Slim gained some of his wealth by investing in a number of struggling companies during the economic crisis of Latin America in the early 1980s. Currently, these companies are gaining fortunes, adding to Slim's wealth.
Unlike most rich people of our time, Slim does not invest his money in extravagant purchases. Rather, he is very charitable.
Recently, he got together with former President Bill Clinton and Canadian businessman Frank Giustra to begin an anti-poverty campaign in Latin America. He continues to donate money to various health care centers, schools, and hospitals.
Slim doesn't believe philanthropy is the best solution to the growing poor population of Mexico. Rather he believes that solving the root of the problem, poverty, will allow people to prosper. Slim states, "It's based on my conviction that poverty is not fought with donations, charity or even public spending, but that you fight it with health, education and jobs," according to The Associated Press.
Slim owns Telmex, a Mexican phone company which runs 90 percent of the country's land-line phones. Also, he controls Inbursa, a financial group that owns businesses ranging from retail stores to restaurants. Slim is very generous in helping the poor of Latin America. In August, he declared he would donate up to 250,000 laptops to Mexican schools and libraries by the end of 2007. In a recent interview, Slim stated that "Wealth is like an orchard. You have to share the fruit, not the trees," according to BBC News.
Carlos is also a very interesting man; he is a widower who spends most of his time relaxing in his modest second-story office. He enjoys watching baseball and his favorite team is the New York Yankees.
Slim is often accused of monopolistics practices, and his company is compared to Wal-Mart in America.
Businesses also complain that Telmex's business phone rates are more than twice as high as those in the United States. This competition is not necessarily a bad thing for Mexico and may even foster more growth, according to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
Adding to his already generous donations, Slim has created a new project, the Latin Development and Employment Generator, in which the company will build infrastructure programs such as dams, hospitals, universities and roads, creating more jobs than other charity programs set up in the past.
Overall, Slim has a positive outlook on Mexico's future and believes that Mexico's economy will prosper with the establishment of these beneficial programs.
Also, more job openings will discourage emigration of Mexican citizens and allow them to receive a proper education. |
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