Who is the richest man in the world now?

The personal wealth of Mexican telecom giant carlos slim helu has quietly surpassed Bill Gates to become the richest man in the world. His total assets have reached $67.8 billion, equivalent to about 7% of Mexico's annual economic output.

Slim Elu is a Lebanese immigrant, aged 67. His career began in a small warehouse in Mexico City. Now, his business empire has included low-cost airlines, cigar companies, music retail business and Internet content providers. His most successful investment was to control Telmex, a Mexican telecom operator, when Mexico's telecom industry opened to the private sector in 1990. At present, Telmex controls 9 of Mexico's 65,438+00 fixed telephone lines.

Slim Elu always spends money carefully. He told the media that he had been keeping accounts since 12 years old. Recently, however, Slim Elu said that in order to improve medical care and education in Mexico, he will set up a charity fund and plan to invest 654.38+0 billion US dollars in four years. However, he made it clear that he would not give up the management of the company. He said wealth is like an orchard. You can share the fruit with others, but you can't give away the orchard.

The rise of privatization wave

1 1 years old, Carlos made the first investment in his life-buying government savings bonds, from which he understood what compound interest was. His father Julian Slim is his business mentor. Relying on the rich legacy left by his father's death, Carlos had earned $400,000 by the time he graduated from college in 1965.

After graduating from the Civil Engineering Department of National Autonomous University of Mexico, Carlos made extensive investments in the commercial field, involving mining, manufacturing, paper making and tobacco industries. Opportunities always favor those who are prepared. During the Mexican economic crisis from 65438 to 0982, Carlos took the opportunity to buy a large number of excellent local companies abandoned by foreign capital at low prices, gradually turned losses into profits, and the industrial empire expanded rapidly.

However, what really pushed Carlos to the position of richest man in Mexico and even Latin America was the wave of privatization of Mexican state-owned enterprises in the 1990s. Carlos organized a consortium to buy the Mexican telephone company from the Mexican government for $6.5438+0.76 million, and he himself owns the controlling stake of the telephone company. It took him five years to invest $654.38+00 billion to update the equipment, and now the company has greatly increased its value to $20 billion, accounting for 40% of the total capital of the Mexican Stock Exchange. America Mobile, which he controls, has 40 million users and is the most important mobile communication provider in Latin America.

The rich created by monopoly

Now in Mexico, at least 90% of the telecommunications market is monopolized by Carlos; He owns companies where middle-class consumers are used to shopping and dining; The steel used for infrastructure construction in Mexico is produced by his company, and the loan funds are also provided by him; Out of town, there is Elu Airlines; Mexicans also buy insurance from the group; Internet access should use the network access service provided by Carlos Company; Carlos' stock accounts for half of the Mexican stock market. ...

His vast industrial empire includes telecommunications, tobacco, Internet services, insurance, banks, shopping centers, restaurants, video stores, auto parts, electronics, steel and cement industries, and even airlines. George Grayson, an expert on Mexico at William and Mary College in the United States, said: "Carlos' industry covers everything from cradle to grave. Mexico is like a' Carlos Kingdom', and it is everywhere. "At the 4th World Water Forum last year, Carlos said he was ready to start investing in water resources.

Having money to do good deeds is questioned.

Although he believes that poverty cannot be solved by donations, "business can bring more benefits to society than distributing money around like Santa Claus." But he is still keen on charity. In 2000, after undergoing heart surgery, Carlos handed over the daily work of the company to his son, and he devoted more time to charity. Carlos donated 95,000 bicycles and 70,000 pairs of glasses to poor children in Mexico, and provided scholarships to 6,543,800 college students. Even the trade union supported him. Carlos announced that he will donate $654.38+0 billion to develop health and education in Mexico in the next four years. He will invest a lot of money to set up three charities to support the poor in Mexico to receive education, enjoy medical security and enjoy daily entertainment.

However, monopoly and charity are always controversial topics. Some people think that his charity behavior is to beautify the image of his monopoly giant: "Carlos may be diversifying his wealth, but he will do his best to protect the monopoly."

After all, because of monopoly, Carlos can independently set a fixed-line charging standard higher than that of any other developed country, and can also "rob" 72% of Mexican mobile phone customers through American Mobile to exclude foreign competitors. He said, "At&T and WorldCom want us to hand over market share. They want to be beautiful! "

People think that lowering the price of some services is more affordable than donating money to the society, and the profits gained through monopoly are much more than donating money. People question that his wealth is not enough for most Mexicans, and the living expenses of 30 million Mexicans are less than two dollars a day, which is the best embodiment of the social contradiction of the disparity between the rich and the poor and the lack of competition mechanism in Mexico.

From a "patentee" who likes smoking cigars.

To the "spokesperson" of ordinary people?

At present, in addition to being immersed in the hobby of art appreciation, He Lu also accepted the invitation of the Mexican left and set up a committee to supervise the plan to revive the historical sites in the center of Mexico City. His image is also active in most areas of Mexican life: from politics to educational charities to the restoration of historical buildings. Public opinion believes that He Lu is abandoning business for politics. However, He Lu said that he had no political ambitions and no party secrets.

Last September, at the initiative of He Lu, Mexican political party leaders, business leaders and non-government workers signed the Chapbeck Agreement in Chapbeck, a plan aimed at stimulating Mexico's economic development through public-private cooperation, so as to promote Mexico's economic growth and investment in the poor. Facing the upcoming Mexican presidential election on July 2nd, He Lu publicly stated that he would create more jobs and equal educational opportunities for Mexico. What we need is investment, education, economic growth and employment. In today's world, health and education can reflect equality of opportunity more than any other cause. "It is reported that for the development and progress of Latin America, He Lu has traveled all over Latin America, hoping to use the investment where it is most needed.

Heru's support for the "left-wing trend of thought" is winning the attention of Mexican media. From a "patentee" who likes high-grade cigars to a "spokesman" who is eager to become an ordinary person, He Lu is completing his "mental" transformation. According to the media, He Lu's recent "poor route" is to use the "gap" between the rich and the poor in Latin America to win the trust of optimistic "left-wing" leaders and further expand its commercial power.