World's richest man to set up art museum in Mexico

World's richest man to set up art museum in Mexico

story.mexicostar.com

Carlos Slim, the richest man in the world according to Forbes magazine, is setting up an art museum in Mexico City that will exhibit around 66,000 works, including a few by noted artists Picasso, Rodin and Dali.

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Why would the world's richest man set up an art museum in Mexico of all places? The answer is that the world's richest man is not an American nor European, he is Mexican.

en.wikipedia.org...

In March of 2010 he was named the world's richest man by Forbes Magazine with an estimated wealth of $53.5 billion. On August 4, 2007, The Wall Street Journal ran a cover story profiling Slim. The article said, "While the market value of his stake in publicly traded companies could decline at any time, at the moment he is probably wealthier than Bill Gates".[4] On March 29, 2007, Slim surpassed Warren Buffett as the world's second richest person with an estimated net worth of $53.1 billion compared to Buffet's $52.4 billion.[5] According to The Wall Street Journal, Slim credits part of his ability to "discover investment opportunities" early to the writings of his friend, futurist author Alvin Toffler

Mr. Slim has taken the lead in rebuilding and repairing Mexico's infrastructure along with revitalizing old franchizes and retail chains throughout his country. His companies have also been engaged in the operation of water treatment plants and development of urban and rural properties.

Controversy has arisen over his fortunes being amassed in a developing country where per capita incomes are under $15,000 US dollars per year.

In his Forbes interview Mr. Slim comments, "When you live for others' opinions, you are dead. I don't want to live thinking about how I'll be remembered". Slim claims indifference about his position on Forbes list of the worlds richest people and says he has no interest in becoming the world's richest person.

When asked to explain his sudden increase in wealth at a press conference soon after Forbes annual rankings were published, he reportedly said, "The stock market goes up ... and down", and noted that his fortune could quickly drop.

America's unlikely neighbor to the south is playing now and is scoring big.



story.mexicostar.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by Erongaricuaro


Very interesting... he says he made a fortune on the stock market because he read futurist Alvin Toffler (Future Shock author)... I would guess a more likely reason was he was well position to get... timely... information:

Slim has been vice-president of the Mexican Stock Exchange and president of the Mexican Association of Brokerage Houses. He was the first president of the Latin-American Committee of the New York Stock Exchange Administration Council

Talk about amassing a fortue on the backs of other's suffering:

The Mexican magnate's growing fortune has caused a controversy because it has been amassed in a developing country where per capita income does not surpass $14,500 a year, and nearly 17% of the population lives in poverty.[13] Critics claim that Slim is a monopolist, pointing to Telmex's control of 90% of the Mexican landline telephone market. Slim's wealth is the equivalent of roughly 5% of Mexico's annual economic output.[14] Telmex, of which 49.1% is owned by Slim and his family, charges among the highest usage fees in the world

And a very eye raising quote from Larry King for some of us studying certain esoteric subjects:
"

In one of his last TV interviews, Larry King called him "an illuminated, extraordinary, and incredible man..."

well when you own 90 percent of a countries communication services you can charge what you want . i wonder why he hasn't been kidnapped and held for ransom isn;t he exactly the kind the the mexican kidnapping rings like.
i smell something fishy here

reply to post by pianopraze


A couple of my acquaintances here in Morelia, Michoacán have noted encountering Mr. Slim under the most casual of circumstances and claim him to be a very gracious and pleasant man. After becoming aware of who he is and seeing his photos I believe I too have seen him, though did not speak with him, also in a very casual setting. He would not strike me as being the ruthless magnate sort, just your average Mexican caballero (gentleman).

While landline telephones seem to be on their way out there are several large wireless phone companies in Mexico, some very inexpensive services are offered but with the trade-off that you receive a number of annoying promotional messages. Mr. Slim's TelCell is typically the more expensive sevice but by far the most popular, at least here in my region.

Despite the lower incomes of Mexican citizens almost all the city dwellers, adults and teenagers, have and use cell phones and all the electronic devices popular in the US. Those whose knowledge of life in Mexico is second-hand are nearly always flabbergasted to find the use of these electronic technologies, even the standard of living, is on par with and often surpasses that in the US.

The days of donkey-carts is nearly past history, though they can still be found and in use daily, but life in Mexico is quite vibrant and modern by anyone's standards these days. And thanks to Mr. Slim much attention has been put into restoring, improving, and developing more of Mexico's infrastructure.

Originally posted by proteus33
well when you own 90 percent of a countries communication services you can charge what you want . i wonder why he hasn't been kidnapped and held for ransom isn;t he exactly the kind the the mexican kidnapping rings like.
i smell something fishy here

Care to elaborate any?

Normally I would expect to find any of the very rich here among their bodyguards. However, if I was correct about having seen Mr. Slim, before I would have known or recognized him, that was not the case. My near encounter with him was not unlike the setting others had described, except that Mr. Slim went up, introduced himself, and spoke with them.

It doesn't appear many here hold any animosity toward Mr. Slim for being rich or regard that his businesses are profiteering at their expense, rather that they respect that his interests have been aimed toward the general improvement and development of Mexico.