The world's third-richest man, Carlos Slim, is gaining rapidly on Bill Gates and Warren Buffett with a fortune that grew $19 billion last year -- the largest wealth gain in the past decade tracked by Forbes magazine.
Since Slim bought the telephone monopoly in a 1991 privatization, he's used Telmex as a cash cow to build an empire that includes Latin America's largest mobile phone company; provides banking, brokerage and Internet services; sells insurance and oil industry equipment; and operates retail stores and restaurants.
On Monday, Slim announced he would invest in health care and launch a program to supply low-cost computers to rural residents.
Telmex already sponsors a charity foundation that supports education and social programs in Mexico, and the billionaire's investments in downtown real estate have led to an urban renewal in Mexico City's center.
Slim said his charitable foundations have about $4 billion in endowments.
[The New York Times]
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