Born in Mexico City in 1940, Carlos Slim Helú is a Mexican business magnate, investor, and philanthropist who was, for a period, the world's richest man. He is the son of Lebanese immigrant parents who prospered in Mexico, instilling in him a keen aptitude for business from an early age. His father taught him essential business lessons, including the importance of reading financial statements and keeping accurate records.

Slim’s education was rigorous: he graduated in 1961 from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) with a degree in Civil Engineering. While at UNAM, he also took a deep interest in economics. The formative tragedy of his life was the death of his father when Carlos was only 13, forcing the young man to continue working for the family company and assume immense responsibility early in life. This combination of engineering discipline, early business experience, and philosophical conservatism formed the basis of his multi-billion dollar conglomerate.

Carlos Slim's entrepreneurial career began immediately after college. He worked as a stock trader and founded his own brokerage firm, Inversora Bursátil, at the age of 25. He quickly built a diverse conglomerate, Grupo Carso S.A.B. de C.V., which served as a holding company for his interests in retail, construction, and manufacturing.

His defining move, and the core source of his colossal fortune, came in 1990 with the privatization of Teléfonos de México (Telmex), the state-owned telecommunications company. Slim led a consortium that acquired a majority stake. Under his leadership, Telmex and its mobile arm, América Móvil, achieved near-monopolistic control over the Mexican wireless market. He successfully expanded América Móvil across Latin America, making it one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world. His strategy is defined by contrarian investment—buying undervalued assets during economic crises—and long-term, patient management, which allowed him to weather multiple national and global economic downturns.

Carlos Slim Helú is a major philanthropist in Mexico and Latin America, channeling his efforts through the Carlos Slim Foundation. His giving is structural, focusing on education, health, and justice in the regions his companies serve.

• Technology and Education: His foundation funds massive digital literacy and internet access programs.
• Health Initiatives: He is a major partner in fighting diseases across Latin America.
• Museo Soumaya: This cultural gift provides free public access to a colossal art collection, fulfilling a civic duty to enrich Mexico's cultural landscape.

Carlos Slim Helú maintains the humble, pragmatic style of a self-made patriarch. His attire is consistently modest and often features simple, non-designer suits or tailored shirts. His public image is one of a disciplined, philosophical man who avoids the ostentatious displays of wealth often associated with his fortune. He is famously not digitally inclined, preferring to keep his financial data in hand-written notebooks.

Residing in Mexico City, his luxury is the profound security of his immense fortune and the autonomy to influence national policy and infrastructure. His life is dedicated to long-term value creation and his late wife’s legacy (the Museo Soumaya).