Carlos Slim

Slim’s father emigrated from Lebanon to Mexico, and his mother descended from Lebanese immigrants. The fifth of six children, he learned bookkeeping early and lost his father at thirteen.⁠[2]

Born in Mexico City on January 28, 1940, Slim completed civil-engineering studies at UNAM in 1961 and established Inversora Bursátil in 1965.⁠[1]

Slim married Soumaya Domit Gemayel in 1966. They had six children: Carlos, Marco Antonio, Patrick, Soumaya, Vanessa and Johanna. The name Carso combines the beginnings of Carlos and Soumaya.⁠[3]

The business later known as Grupo Carso was established as Grupo Galas in 1980. During the decade, it acquired majority interests in Cigatam, Sanborns, Frisco, Nacobre and paper and printing businesses, building a portfolio across several industries.⁠[4]

During Mexico’s 1982 crisis, Slim acquired undervalued assets. In 1990 his group and French and American partners acquired state telephone company Telmex; he subsequently promoted prepaid mobile service.⁠[2]

Grupo Galas adopted the Grupo Carso name in May 1990 and listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange in June.⁠[4]

América Móvil was created through a Telmex spin-off in September 2000; its shares were distributed to Telmex shareholders on February 7, 2001. Telcel operated its Mexican mobile business. By the end of 2002, the company had more than 31 million wireless subscribers in seven countries.⁠[5]

The 2002 annual report disclosed that Slim and members of his immediate family held a majority of América Telecom’s voting stock. América Telecom in turn controlled 64.7% of América Móvil’s voting shares.⁠[5]

Slim bought 6.4% of the New York Times Company in 2008 and lent it $250 million the following year.⁠[2]

The Carlos Slim Health Institute, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Spain backed Mesoamerica Health 2015, committing $50 million each. The Inter-American Development Bank administered the $150 million initiative.⁠[6]

The program targeted the poorest fifth of the population in Central America and southern Mexico, emphasizing maternal and neonatal health, nutrition and vaccination, with funding tied to results.⁠[6]

Museo Soumaya’s Plaza Carso building opened to the public on March 29, 2011, while its earlier Plaza Loreto location was retained. Fernando Romero designed the building, with its steel structure produced by Carso’s Suecomex.⁠[7]

The collection announced at the opening exceeded 66,000 works, spanning Mexican and European art and including Rodin sculptures. The new building provided six exhibition levels and free admission.⁠[7]

Slim and Salman Khan announced an educational partnership under which Fundación Carlos Slim would support Khan Academy and fund the partnership’s Mexican activities. More than 500 course videos were already available in Spanish at the announcement.⁠[8]

The foundation also announced a separate commitment of more than 4 billion Mexican pesos over three years for connectivity, digital libraries and school equipment.⁠[8]

Mexico’s telecommunications regulator, IFT, designated the economic group comprising América Móvil, Telmex, Telnor, Telcel, Grupo Carso and Grupo Financiero Inbursa as a preponderant telecommunications operator. It imposed measures intended to prevent harm to competition, addressing the group’s market position.⁠[9]

Slim’s affiliates exercised warrants associated with the 2009 loan, buying about 15.9 million Class A shares at approximately $6.36 each and increasing the stake to 16.8%. The loan had been repaid in 2011.⁠[10]

The purchase did not displace the Ochs-Sulzberger family’s control through Class B shares.⁠[10]

On June 22, 2015, the Carlos Slim Foundation announced a nonprofit partnership with Holmes and Theranos to incorporate testing into Mexico’s CASALUD program. The announcement’s clinical and efficiency benefits were the partners’ expectations, not completed independent validation.⁠[11]

Vanity Fair corrected its 2016 report: the investor on an email list was a Grupo Financiero Inbursa executive, not Slim personally.⁠[12]

A Slim-affiliated company invested about $30 million in TheranosTheranosTheranos was a blood-testing company founded in 2003 by Elizabeth Holmes and based in Palo Alto, California, which offered retail testing with Walgreens and was valued at up to $9 billion before regulatory sanctions and criminal charges over alleged fraud in its technology and financial claims led to its dissolution in 2018.Open the full entry.⁠[13]

América Móvil completed the sale of its entire TracFone stake to VerizonVerizonVerizon (Verizon Communications Inc.) is one of the largest telecommunications carriers in the United States, formed in 2000 through the merger of Bell Atlantic, one of the “Baby Bells,” and GTE. Headquartered in New York City, it operates a nationwide wireless network, Fios fiber broadband and communications services for businesses and government, and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.Open the full entry. Closing consideration included $3.6257 billion in cash and 57,596,544 Verizon shares; the cash figure included $500.7 million in cash and working-capital adjustments.⁠[14]

The agreement also provided for up to $650 million in additional cash within two years if TracFone met specified operating targets.⁠[14]

Grupo Carso’s Zamajal completed the acquisition of 49.9% of Talos Energy México 7 for $124.75 million. It paid $74.85 million at closing, with the balance due when the Zama field first entered commercial production.⁠[15]

Talos México held a 17.4% interest in Zama, giving Carso exposure to the project through its company shareholding. Pemex was the field’s operator at the time.⁠[15]