Carlos Slim Helu, born on January 28, 1940 in Mexico City , Helu was the fifth of six children to Lebanese immigrant parents Julian Slim Haddad and Linda Helu. In 1902, in attempt to avoid the military draft, Julian fled the Ottoman Empire and wound up in Mexico – at the age of 14 and speaking no Spanish. Eight years later, the Mexican Revolution unleashed itself throughout the country, during which time nearly one in every 15 Mexicans would be killed. But, not Julian.
Helu’s father opened a general store in 1911 in Mexico City’s central district. While others were warning him to leave the violence, Julian insisted on staying. He purchased prime real estate at rock bottom prices in the Zocalo district as others quickly and eagerly sold all they could. It was a gamble that paid off in the end, and a lesson his young son would always carry with him.
Helu’s business acumen began to develop at an early age. When he was just 11 years old, he invested in government savings bonds and kept a detailed ledger to track all of his purchases. By the time her was 15, he had become a part shareowner of largest bank in Mexico.
Helu grew up to study engineering at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico., graduating in 1961. However, he realised that his true calling was business and so few years later, he set up a stock brokerage. Working 14-hours day, Helu slowly moved into the insurance industry. He was becoming a modest success but it was not until the 1980s that Helu would make a real name for himself.
In 1982, Mexico found itself in the middle of a massive debt crisis. All the banks were struggling and everyone was trying to get out of the stock market as quickly as they could. Everyone that is, except Helu, who decided there was no better time to pounce. He had learned the lesson of hunting for bargains from his father, and he was not about to let this opportunity pass him by. Helu quickly snapped up the cigarette distributor Cigatam, as well as a coffee and gift shop at rock bottom prices. However, it was his next acquisition that would become his greatest to date, and the one that would help Helu go down in the history books.
Helu’s big break came in the 1990s, when the Mexican government succumbed to pressure from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to liberalize its county’s economy. A massive campaign of privatization began, with the government selling off the hundreds of companies that were state-owned. Among those companies was Telefonos de Mexico (Telmex), the Mexican national telephone company.
In Telmex, Helu saw the potential for a huge hit. At the time, he had a close relationship with then-accusation that the Mexican President gave him any special treatment, Helu was able to buy Telmex from the government for US$1.7 billion in a deal that saw him resourcefully partner up with Southernwestern Bell Corporation and France Telecom . At the time, auditors had valued Telmex at US$10-12 billion. Helu had gotten a good deal.
Accusations of preferential treatment gained increasing strength after 1993, when Helu attended a gala fundraising event and made a very strategic and public announcement. He, along with 30 other high profile Mexican business leaders, pledged US$25 million each to Gortari’s political party. Whatever the truth, Helu took control of Telmex and established a landline monopoly throughout the country, as well as developed control of 70 percent of Mexico’s long distance market.
Since the 1990 acquisition, Helu has continued to use his Telmex profits to fuel his other investments and become a leader of the digital age. He sought out struggling – and cheap – companies where he thought he could bring renewed vision and turn things around. By bringing a stronger focus on the bottom line to his companies, Helu began developing a reputation for efficient cash management and implementing strategies of aggressive growth.
Helu’s biggest holding is America Movil, which he grew to become Latin America’s biggest mobile phone service provider with more than 41 million subscribers. His Grupo Carso, which owns Telmex, also has control of more than 80 percent of Grupo Sanborns, which includes the Sanborns chain of department stores and a majority stake in Sears Roebuck de Mexico.
In Mexico, Grupo Carso has become a leader in everything from bakeries to railroads and retail chains , In 2000, Helu strove less successfully to enter the US market by acquiring the troubled CompUSA for US$1 billion. After cutting 1,500 jobs and divesting the company of some of its business, Helu was beginning to seesome success. However, in 2002, after not realizing as positive results as he had hoped for, Helu decided to spin off his 51 percent stake in the company to two new holding companies.
Helu’s companies now make up roughly half of the value of the Mexican stock exchange, and are the equivalent to seven percent of the country’s GDP. He recently handed control of Grupo Carso over to his three sons, but Helu remains a powerful presence.
(Copy from SME & Entrepreneurship Magazine- Jennifer Lee & William Ng)
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