22. Carlos Slim Helu

Carlos Slim Helu was born on January 28 1940, in Mexico City. He is a Mexican business magnate, investor and philanthropist. From 2010 to 2013, Slim was ranked the richest person in the world by Forbes business magazine. He derived his fortune from extensive holdings in many Mexican companies through his conglomerate, Grupo Carso.

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As of February 2020, according to Forbes’ listing of The World’s Billionaires, he is the fifth-richest person in the world. He and his family have a net worth estimated at $68.9 billion. He is the wealthiest person in Latin America.

His conglomerate includes education, health care, industrial manufacturing, transportation, real estate, media, energy, hospitality, entertainment, high-technology, retail, sports and financial services. He accounts for 40% of the listings on the Mexican Stock Exchange, while his net worth is equivalent to about 6 per cent of Mexico’s gross domestic product. As of 2016, he is the largest single shareholder of The New York Times Company.

Carlos Slim Helu married Soumaya Domit in 1967 until she died in 1999. Among her interests were various philanthropic projects. Slim has six children: Carlos, Marco Antonio, Patrick, Soumaya, Vanessa, and Johanna. His three older sons serve in critical positions in the companies controlled by Slim, where most are involved in the day-to-day running of Slim’s business empire.

Slim underwent heart surgery in 1999. In high school, Slim’s favourite subjects were history, cosmography, and mathematics. Slim and his wife had a very happy marriage, and he indicated that he did not intend to remarry.

Slim does not keep a computer in his office and prefers to keep all his financial data in hand-written notebooks. Due to the vast size of his business empire, he often jokes that he needs to keep track of all the companies he manages. Slim is a Maronite Catholic, one of the most well-known people who support the Legion of Christ, a Roman Catholic religious group.

On April 1, Her Majesty Queen Sophia of Spain granted the ‘Sophia Award for Excellence’ to the Mexican businessman and philanthropist Eng. Carlos Slim.

Sergio Perez’s ties to the Mexico-based Escudería Telmex racing team cover most of his three decades, stretching back to well before his days as a competitive driver. The relationship has afforded several opportunities to Formula One driver, who won his first race in the circuit last month before jumping to Red Bull.

Perez has spent 19 years under the tutelage of Carlos Slim Helu and Telmex, a partnership that continues to be a beacon for Mexican auto racing.