You may or may not have heard of Carlos Slim Helu (Carlos Slim), a successful Mexican billionaire businessman who is known to take small, struggling companies and turn them into multi-million-dollar corporate empires. He was not just someone who made smart investments. He is also the wealthiest person in all of Mexico and, as of 2023, is worth about $100.8 billion.
Who is Carlos Slim?
Carlos Slim is not just a successful businessman and the richest person in his country; he is also the 8th richest billionaire in the world and considered to be in the top 20 of the most powerful people.
Carlos Slim's success is tied to hard work and strategy, something that we can all learn from and apply to our own personal financial goals.
Carlos Slim's Background
Born in Mexico City in 1940 to Lebanese migrant parents, Carlos Slim showed interest in business investment and operations after seeing his father succeed in opening his own business and investing them into other ventures, like real estate.
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From a young age, Carlos Slim became interested in business and commerce.
His father saw this and took him under his wing, teaching him life-long skills like bookkeeping, management, and understanding financial statements. Unfortunately, these lessons were short-lived, as his father passed when he was only 13 years old.
But he did not take this as a discouragement to his goals but instead used what he learned as the foundation to continue his education and personal finances.
As he got older, he remained employed in his father's company, which he would eventually inherit.
“If you're in business, you need to understand the environment. You need to have a vision of the future, and you need to know the past”.
-Carlos Slim
Professional Development
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Carlos Slim studied civil engineering to further his education in Mexico. While studying engineering, he piqued an interest in economics and chose to pursue it when he started his career.
Eventually, he landed his first role in finance, where he worked long hours as a stock trader in Mexico City.
In just four years of working in finance, he was able to reap the benefits from all that he had learned and invested. At just 25 years old, he netted about $400,000—about $3.6 million today when considering inflation.
As the years went by, he made smart investments, including buying companies that were about to go under.
In the 80s, an oil crisis was sinking the Mexican economy and pushing many companies into bankruptcy. He was able to invest in companies like Cigatam, Reynolds Aluminum, General Tire, and Sanborns.
Other largely known companies that Carlos Slim have been involved in are: The New York Times, Sears, Saks Fifth Avenue, Office Depot, Office Max, Shazam (The mobile app).
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Investment Strategy and Philosophy
Being one of the world's wealthiest people does not mean they need to practice lifestyle inflation. Considering how much money Slim and his family have, they tend to live frugally and devote their remaining liquid assets to diversified investments and business ventures.
Living below their means has been a practice he has successfully applied to his lifestyle throughout his life.
“Competition makes you better, always, always makes you better, even if the competitor wins”.
-Carlos Slim
Carlos Slim's stance on finance and success is simple: Do not do things to receive the acknowledgment of others, but do them when it requires love, family, friendship, authenticity, and integrity.
Carlos Slim is 83 years old and still lives in the same house that he has lived in for the last 40 years.
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His investments are a diversification of liquid and illiquid assets like corporations, real estate, planes, cars, stock markets, and collectibles.
All of these assets combined tally to a total of over $100 billion in net worth.
What Are the Results of His Methods After Years of Investments and Financial Decisions
In 1990 he bought Telmex from Mexico’s government, the only telephone company back then, after strong investments over mobile telephone service, as well as expanding the company to other countries, the company evolved into America Movil in 2000.
Carlos Slim and his family have control of America Movil, today’s Latin America's largest mobile telecom firm.
The Slim family operates all their investments under a conglomerate called Grupo Carso, with stakes in multiple industries.
His strategy is to acquire companies that are not performing well and turn them into multi-billion-dollar companies before he sells his shares.
He determines the status of the companies he buys by completing a fundamental analysis of their financial health with his education and experience in finance and economics.
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As of 2022, Carlos Slim has begun to task his six children with running certain business operations to ensure business growth even after he passes.
How Can We Apply His Way of Handling Finances into Our Life
Carlos Slim showed the world that with perseverance and taking a chance on struggling companies that others may not consider investing in.
Personal finance is not something that is learned once. Over time, there are new strategies, companies, and ways to diversify your portfolio and grow your net worth.
“Mistakes are normal and human. Make them small, accept them, correct them, and forget them”.
-Carlos Slim
Continuous learning from the best is the easiest way to apply their strategies toward personal goals. From understanding stocks to investing in real estate and even living under your means, using Carlos Slim's strategies is a great way to improve your own.
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