Each year, Forbes magazine publishes a list of the world’s billionaires. The 2007 list is headed up by Bill Gates, who is worth $56 billion, followed up by investor Warren Buffet, at $52 billion.
But did you know who the world’s third-richest man is? It’s none other than Mexican telecoms tycoon, Carlos Slim, owner of Telmex and numerous other enterprises.
Carlos Slim is worth $49 billion dollars, which puts him just a scant $3 billion behind Warren Buffet. By the time the 2008 list is published, Slim may be the world’s second-richest man.
Mexico is a country where half the population lives under the poverty line, and where the per capita income is under $6,800 dollars. And Carlos Slim has $49 billion dollars.
It’s no wonder they call this guy “King Midas”. Like the Greek legend of yore, everything he touches turns to gold.
The big break came in 1990, when president Carlos Salinas “privatized” the public telephone monopoly Telmex, by selling it to crony Carlos Slim. So Telmex went from being a government monopoly to a private monopoly, which still controls 94% of Mexico’s landlines. Slim’s cell phone monopoly Telcel controls 78.9% of the Mexican market. Mexico’s phone rates are among the highest in the world.
The Mexican Mogul has expanded internationally. His cellphone company America Movil is Latin America’s biggest provider.
But Carlos Slim is not limited to telecommunications and related industries. This guy sells everything, and it’s doubtful that any resident of Mexico can escape putting more money in his already voluminous pockets. Slim has a bank, an airline, department stores, restaurants and music outlets. Slim sells insurance, auto parts, ceramic tile. The Mexican government pays Slim to construct roads, water treatment plants and petroleum platforms. Etc….
OK, so Carlos Slim is super-wealthy, and getting richer by the hour. Is that necessarily bad?
No, it’s not. Bashing the wealthy is not particularly productive, and envy is not the same as a desire for justice.
The fact that Carlos Slim is a Mexican with $49 billion dollars could be a real asset for Mexico, if he were creating lots of jobs for the Mexican people.
And that’s what’s amazing. Despite all Carlos Slim’s wealth, political connections and near-monopolies, Mexico’s Pinnacle of Plutocracy is not real efficient at creating jobs for his fellow Mexicans . King Midas Slim may be, but not a very prolific generator of employment.
All of Carlos Slim’s enterprises combined only employ a quarter of a million (250,000) Mexicans. That’s rather pathetic, when you think about it.
Compare that to Wal-Mart de México . Now you can say anything you want about Wal-mart . But the Mexican subsidiary of Wal-mart provides 1.7 million jobs to Mexican workers. And that’s no small feat.
In contrast, Carlos Slim, the world’s third-richest man, can only hire a quarter of a million?
Slim talks the talk . For the past few years, he has spoken out constantly to the media, and in various forums, about the need for Mexico to create more jobs, improve education, develop infrastructure, etc., etc. But you’d think with $49 billion he could do more.
On the eve of U.S. President George W. Bush’s visit to Mexico, Carlos Slim was talking again. At a Mexico City press conference, Slim bashed the proposed border fence as “illegal” and “absurd” and lectured the U.S. on how it should run its own immigration policy. According to Mexico’s $49 Billion Dollar Man, the U.S. needs to import more low-skilled workers, presumably so Slim won’t have to provide jobs for them.
Of course Carlos Slim is against a fence on the U.S. – Mexican border. That’s because, if the U.S. ever got control of its border and decreased Mexican emigration, more people would notice Carlos Slim and the 9 other Mexican billionaires on the Forbes list !
Mexican billionaires, with their crony capitalistic business practices, have failed to do their share in improving the lot of poor Mexicans. So of course Slim bashes the gringos. Meanwhile, the gringo multinational Wal-mart employes more Mexicans than he does.
What’s wrong with this picture?
Allan Wall (allan39@prodigy.net.mx) recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq and currently resides in Mexico.
