Carlos Slim Helu

Early life

Carlos Slim Helú was born on January 28, 1940, in Mexico City to Julián Slim Haddad and Linda Helú Atta, Maronite Christian immigrants from Lebanon. His father was a successful merchant who instilled sharp commercial discipline, accounting practices, and financial literacy in Carlos from a young age, encouraging him to keep meticulous ledger books for his allowance and early investments.

Carlos pursued higher education at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), where he studied Civil Engineering. Demonstrating an early mastery of math and analytical modeling, he taught linear programming and algebra at UNAM while finishing his degree. He graduated in 1961, and his engineering background formed the analytical foundation for his systemic approach to business management, cost structure optimization, and asset valuation.

Career

Carlos started his business career in the early 1960s as a stockbroker and investor in Mexico City. He founded Inversora Bursátil in 1965 and gradually laid the groundwork for his primary holding company, Grupo Carso. The company name was formed by combining Carlos’ name with his late wife, Soumaya Domit. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Carlos quietly acquired and built positions in real estate, construction, and manufacturing.

His defining investment strategy was formed during the severe Mexican economic crisis of 1982. While foreign investors fled and domestic asset valuations plummeted, Carlos started an aggressive buying campaign, acquiring distressed industrial, consumer, and financial assets at deep discounts. During this period, he secured controlling stakes in major companies, including Cigatam (tobacco), Reynolds Aluminio, Sanborns (retail and dining), Hotel Galería Plaza, and Sears México. His operational direction focused on lean corporate overhead, tight cost controls, and reinvesting cash flow back into company growth.

In 1990, during the Mexican government’s privatization initiative, Grupo Carso joined forces with foreign partners France Télécom and Southwestern Bell to acquire Telmex (Teléfonos de México). With Carlos’s direction, Telmex modernized Mexico’s telecommunications infrastructure, building nationwide fixed-line and data networks. Recognizing the emerging potential of wireless communication, Carlos spun off the mobile division into América Móvil quickly grew in Latin American and Europe through its flagship brand Telcel and international acquisitions, turning into one of the largest wireless telecommunications operators globally.

Throughout the years, Carlos expanded Grupo Carso’s footprint into virtually every major industry of the Mexican economy. His holdings include Grupo Financiera Inbursa (banking and financial services), Carso Infraestructura y Construcción (large-scale infrastructure projects), and Minera Frisco (mining). Internationally, Carlos has executed strategic investments in real estate, European telecommunications companies (including Telekom Austria), and media entities, including holding a significant minority stake in The New York Times Company for several years. In recent years, Carlos has transitioned operational management of his major corporate entities to his family and longtime executives while remaining Chairman of Grupo Carso’s advisory board.

Net Worth

According to Forbes, Carlos Slim Helú’s net worth is approximately $126.7 billion as of July 2026.

Achievement

Throughout his years, he has received numerous awards and achievements. Here are some of the highlights:

Ranked by Forbes as the richest person in the world for four consecutive years (2010-2013), becoming the first Latin American entrepreneur to hold the top position.

Transformed Latin America’s communications landscape by building América Móvil into a global wireless giant serving hundreds of millions of subscribers in the Americas and Europe.

Expanded Grupo Carso into one of Latin America’s largest private-sector employers, spanning telecom, infrastructure, retail, banking, mining, and energy.

Founded Fundacíon Carlos Slim in 1986 and Fundación Telmex, providing long-term funding for public health programs, digital literacy, educational scholarships, and disaster relief in Latin America.

Established the non-profit Museo Soumaya in Mexico City in memory of his late wife, housing an extensive collection of over 66,000 works of art.

Led major urban restoration projects in Mexico City, most notably the revitalization of the city’s historic downtown core.