Carlos Slim - Worlds Wealthiest Man

By Michelle Caruso-Cabrera Carlos Slim, the world's wealthiest man, is bullish on Mexico and says he is staying in the country despite the dramatic rise in violence. A mansion that he bought in New York is too big to live in—it's purely for investment. Carlos Slim In a wide-ranging interview, the telecom magnate put to rest rumors about a large mining acquisition, explained his rationale for buying nearly $200 million in New York real estate, and also why he is not making the pledge to give away half his wealth like Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. A wave of violence has left more than 30,000 dead in three years in the Latin American country, as President Felipe Calderon wages an all-out war against the country's drug cartels. As a result, Mexican executives living near the US border are said to be moving to places like Texas and Florida. Slim says he is not one of them. Instead, he is investing heavily in Mexico by purchasing real estate and spinning off two companies just this month that are newly listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange. In fact, he says those choosing not to invest in Mexico are making a big mistake: They will lose. "If they are already here, they will lose market share. If they are not here they will lose a very big market. We are 110-112 million people, and growing the economy," Slim says. On donating half his fortune to charity like billionaires Buffett and Gates are doing, Slim says it's the wrong way to resolve the world's problems. "What we need to do as businessmen, is to help to solve the problems, the social problems," he explains. "To fight poverty, but not by charity." In addition, he says donating the money to charity will result in huge tax deductions, depriving governments of much-needed tax revenue. "I think it will be a big mistake that companies like Microsoft [MSFT  28.3525    -0.1175  (-0.41%)   ] , Apple [AAPL  332.68    -6.16  (-1.82%)   ] —the leaders of the world in technology—be sold by the founders to put the cash to fund charities. They shouldn't. It is more important that they continue manage the companies." As for his recent purchase of a mansion on Fifth Avenue in New York for $44 million, he scoffed at the notion that someone would live there, suggesting that it was too big because it has at least eight floors. Instead, he is going to turn it into several apartments and perhaps lease part of the building to a restaurant at the street level. Slim himself lives in a modest home in Mexico City and says he doesn't like owning homes outside the country because they are too much of a headache. He says he would rather stay in a hotel. Slim said rumors that he wants to buy the Fresnillo mining company, listed in London, are completely untrue. Slim already has a mining company, Minera Frisco, that he just spun off and listed on the Mexican stock exchange this month. Its products include zinc, silver, and gold. He is very pleased with his investment in The New York Times [NYT  10.74    0.66  (+6.55%)   ] he says, and is not interested in buying the company the way Rupert Murdoch bought Wall Street Journal owner Dow Jones. Slim owns 10 million shares and lent the company $250 million with a 14 percent interest rate in late 2009. He is making $35 million in interest payments alone every year. Plus, he received warrants giving him the rights to 15.9 million shares. "It was a financial investment. We made a convertible bond, a bond with warrants. We are very happy with the formula," he says. Slim added, "We are not asking them how the business is going. We are looking from the outside. What they are going to do? What are their plans? We are not asking about that. We know that they are doing a good job." The next goal for his telecom companies is broadband penetration levels of up to 70 percent in Latin America. The number currently stands at less than 20 percent. Now that wireless penetration is nearing 100 percent or more (because some people have more than one phone), the next step is providing internet connections via smart phones on a large scale.