Mexico Eyes Carlos Slim's Stupendous Wealth

World's richest man owns 8% of GDP
By Sam Gale Rosen,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 13, 2007 7:55 AM CDT
Mexico Eyes Carlos Slim's Stupendous Wealth
Mexican telecom billionaire Carlos Slim Helu , Chairman of Grupo Carso, speaks as former president Bill Clinton looks on during a news conference about the Clinton Foundation's launching of a new sustainable development initiative in Latin America Thursday, June 21, 2007 in New York. Slim has committed...   (Associated Press)

With Mexican media baron Carlos Slim now the world's richest man, superseding Bill Gates, Mexican regulators are  launching an investigation into whether the virtual monopolies that have made him worth $67 billion in a dizzyingly short time are illegal. Two of his companies—Telemex and Movil—control about 90% of the nation's landlines and 75% of wireless service, Time reports. 

Overall, the son of Lebanese Christian immigrants owns a mind-blowing 8% of Mexico's GDP. The government has been notoriously lax with monopolistic business practices, but President Calderon has promised to crack down. Time notes that news of the federal scrutiny caused shares of Telemex to tumble; if the slide continues, Slim could soon find himself No. 2 to Gates again.
(More Carlos Slim stories.)

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